RETROSPECTIVE APPRAISAL OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SKIN IRRITANCY AND CONTACT SENSITIZATION POTENTIAL

A retrospective analysis of the association between skin irritancy and the potential to cause contact sensitization has been performed emplo ying a historical database for 50 chemicals and formulations. Correlat ions between the results of Draize skin irritation tests and skin sens itizing activity measured with the occluded patch test of Buehler have been examined. Weak, but nevertheless statistically significant, asso ciations between contact sensitization and skin irritancy have been de monstrated. It is proposed that such correlations are consistent with the irritant properties oi a material exerting an important influence on the extent to which contact sensitization is induced.