OCCUPATIONAL ALLERGIC CONTACT-DERMATITIS FROM ALKANOLAMINEBORATES IN METALWORKING FLUIDS

Alkanolamineborates are extensively used in coolants as corrosion inhi bitors. In this paper, 3 machinists with contact allergy to alkanolami neborates are reported. To avoid false-positive test reactions due to the alkalinity of the alkanolamineborates, they should be tested when dissolved in an acidic buffer. When various alkanolamineborates were t ested in dilution series in the 3 patients, 2 types of reactivity patt erns emerged, indicating the existence of at least 2 separate sensitiz ers in alkanolamineborates. The raw materials, ethanolamines and boric acid, did not yield any positive patch test reactions. Thin-layer chr omatography investigations demonstrated that each alkanolamineborate c onsists of many substances, which differed in part between different a lkanolamineborates. The present study shows that it is not possible to use 1 particular alkanolamineborate for tracing contact allergy to al kanolamineborates in general.