Abstract
Background: Benzyl alcohol is a widely used preservative, solvent and fragrance material. According to published data, it is a rare sensitizer in humans. Objectives: To identify characteristics and sensitization patterns of patients with positive patch test reactions to benzyl alcohol and to check the reliability of the patch test preparation benzyl alcohol 1% pet. Patients and Methods: Retrospective analysis of data from the Information Network of Departments of Dermatology (IVDK), 2010–2019. Results: Of 70 867 patients patch tested with benzyl alcohol 1% pet., 146 (0.21%) showed a positive reaction, most of them (89%) only weakly positive. The number of doubtful and irritant reactions significantly exceeded the number of positive reactions. Reproducibility of positive test reactions was low. Among benzyl alcohol-positive patients, compared to benzyl alcohol-negative patients, there were significantly more patients with leg dermatitis (17.8% vs. 8.6%), more patients aged 40 years or more (81.5% vs. 70.5%) and more patients who were tested because of a suspected intolerance reaction to topical medications (34.9% vs. 16.6%). Concomitant positive reactions were mainly seen to fragrances, preservatives and ointment bases. Conclusions: Sensitization to benzyl alcohol occurs very rarely, mainly in patients with stasis dermatitis. In view of our results, benzyl alcohol cannot be regarded as a significant contact allergen, and therefore marking it as skin sensitizer 1B and labelling it with H 317 is not helpful.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Pages (from-to) | 866-872 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| ISSN | 0926-9959 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 06.2022 |
Funding
IVDK: Jens Malte Baron (Department of Dermatology and Allergology, University Hospital of Aachen, Germany); Jürgen Grabbe (Department of Dermatology, Cantonal Hospital Aarau, Switzerland); Katharina Siedlecki (Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Klinikum Augsburg, Germany); Kerstin Strom (BG Klinik für Berufskrankheiten Bad Reichenhall, Germany); Karin Hartmann (Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland); Margitta Worm (Allergy Unit, Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany); Dagmar Simon (Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Bern, Switzerland); Isaak Effendy (Department of Dermatology, Bielefeld Medical Center, Bielefeld, Germany); Heinrich Dickel (Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany); Manigé Fartasch (Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany); Dieter Vieluf (Department of Allergology, Photodermatology and Occupational dermatology, Dermatologikum Hamburg, Germany); Ulrike Beiteke (Department of Dermatology, Dortmund Hospital, Dortmund, Germany); Andrea Bauer (Department of Dermatology, University Allergy Center, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technical University Dresden, Germany); André Koch (Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Academic Teaching Hospital Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Dresden, Germany); Nicola Wagner (Department of Dermatology, Erlangen University Hospital, Erlangen, Germany); Joachim Dissemond (Department of Dermatology, University Hospital, Essen, Germany); Michal Gina (BG Clinic Falkenstein of Occupational Diseases, Falkenstein, Germany); Christiane Szliska (Department of Dermatology, Bethesda Hospital, Freudenberg, Germany); Heidrun Grunwald-Delitz (Department of Dermatology, Wald Klinikum Gera, Germany); Birger Kränke (Department of Dermatology and Venerology, Medical University of Graz, Austria); Michael Jünger (Department of Dermatology, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany); Timo Buhl (Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Germany); Burkhard Kreft (Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany); Jana Witte (Department of Dermatology and Venereology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany); Claudia Schröder-Kraft (Institute for Interdisciplinary Dermatologic Prevention and Rehabilitation (iDerm) of the University of Osnabrück and Dermatologic Center, BG Trauma Hospital Hamburg, Germany); Thomas Werfel (Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Division of Immunodermatology and Allergy Research, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany); Knut Schäkel (Department of Dermatology, Ruprecht Karls University, Heidelberg, Germany); Elke Weisshaar (Department of Dermatology, Occupational Dermatology, University Medical Center, Heidelberg, Germany); Harald Löffler (Department of Dermatology, SLK Hospital Heilbronn, Germany); Claudia Pföhler (Department of Dermatology, Saarland University Medical School, Homburg, Germany); Sibylle Schliemann (Department of Dermatology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Grmany); Philipp Spring (Dermatological and Dermato-Surgical Center CEDDECC, Lausanne, Switzerland); Regina Treudler (Leipzig Interdisciplinary Allergy Center (LICA), Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, University Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany); Irena Angelova-Fischer (Kepler Universitätsklinikum GmbH, Klinik für Dermatologie und Venerologie, Linz, Austria); Stefan Nestoris (Clinic for Dermatology, Klinikum Lippe-Detmold, Detmold, Germany); Andreas Recke (Department of Dermatology, University of Luebeck, Germany); Detlef Becker (Department of Dermatology, University of Mainz, Germany); Jan Nicolay (Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, University Medical Center and Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany); Wolfgang Pfützner (Clinical & Experimental Allergology, Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany); Rudolf Stadler (Department of Dermatology, University Hospital, Johannes Wesling Klinikum, Minden, Germany); Franziska Rueff (Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany); Brigitte Coras-Stepanek (Department of Dermatology, Allergology and Environmental Medicine, Hospital Munich Schwabing, Munich, Germany); Knut Brockow (Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Technical University Munich, Germany); Randolf Brehler (Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Münster, Germany); Vera Baur (Department of Dermatology, Paracelsus Medical University Nuremberg, Nürnberg, Germany); Ulrike Raap (Department of Dermatology, University of Oldenburg, Germany); Christoph Skudlik (Institute for Interdisciplinary Dermatologi). Open access funding enabled and organized by ProjektDEAL.
DFG Research Classification Scheme
- 2.21-02 Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
- 2.22-19 Dermatology
