Feuchtarbeit versus okklusiver schutzhandschuh - Der versuch einer evidenzbasierten bewertung der beiden potentiell hautschädigenden einflüsse

Introduction: In Germany safety at work, especially when being exposed to health hazards, is regulated by the new ordinance for hazardous substances (Gefahrstoffverordnung) and the technical rules for hazardous substances (TRGS). The TRGS 531 provides the same mandatory health surveillance examinations for wearing occlusive gloves as for being exposed to wet work. Hence, wet work and wearing occlusive gloves is regarded as a similar hazard with regard to preventive measures to be taken. As "evidence-based medicine" gains more and more influence on preventive issues in occupational medicine, it is important to assess whether wet work and wearing occlusive gloves are in fact equally hazardous according to the principles of "evidence-based medicine". Method: A search for literature in MEDLINE was conducted (2000-2005) according to given key words. Furthermore five German journals were searched by hand (1996-2005). Results: Our literature study found no persuasive evidence in recently published literature that answers the above notion. Conclusion: The adverse effects of wearing occlusive gloves in terms of skin irritation have not been sufficiently elucidated yet.