Sunday, November 23, 2008

Strong enough to get your ring around the collar, but not to cause dermatitis.

Little has been published on the effects of laundry detergents. However, physicians and Uncle Buck always ask if you have changed laundry detergent when you get a rash. So a multicenter study was conducted to evaluate the validity of this old adage. The study for allergic contact demratitis (ACD) involved the placement of 2 patch tests-a granular detergent and a liquid one. Reactions to other chemicals like fragrances and nickel were compared to the laundry detergent reactions. Over 700 patients volunteered, but only 5 had a postitive patch test to either or both detergents. 2 of these 5 patients could be evaluated further. Further testing showed that in 1 of the 2, reduplication of the dermatitis could not be elicited. Meanwhile, the other had a reaction to the controls and the detergents. For more details on the study and others like it, check out the citations below.

Information from:

Allergic contact dermatitis to detergents: a multicenter study to assess prevalence.

Division of Dermatology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160-7319, USA.


Study can be found at:
J Am Acad Dermatol. 2002 Feb;46(2):200-6.Click here to read Links
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2 comments:

James R Knight, MD said...

Great find. I can't wait to read it.

James R Knight, MD said...

Here's a google scholar search that will turn up the article