TYPE-IV ALLERGY TO RUBBER ADDITIVES - A 10-YEAR STUDY OF 686 CASES

Background: Rubber additives, mainly vulcanizers and antioxidants, are increasingly a cause of contact dermatitis. Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine the frequency of type IV allergy to ru bber additives. Methods: Seven thousand patients seen during a 10-year period were evaluated. Of them, 4680 were patch tested with the stand ard series recommended by the Spanish Group for Research of Contact De rmatitis (GEIDC) and a series of individual rubber additives. Results: A total of 686 patients (14.7% of those patch tested) had one or more positive reactions to rubber additives. Of these, 582 (84.8%) were me n and 104 (15.2%) were women. The incidence of rubber sensitization wa s especially high among construction workers (47.0%). Conclusion: Rubb er additives are a common cause of occupational contact dermatitis, pa rticularly in construction workers. We postulate that rubber gloves an d boots (utilized to avoid contact with sensitizing substances) themse lves may be a common cause of contact dermatitis. The high incidence o f allergy to some rubber additives, such as thiurams and carbas, indic ates that their replacement by other less sensitizing vulcanizers is a dvisable.