OCCUPATIONAL CONTACT ALLERGY TO UNSATURATED POLYESTER RESIN CEMENTS

6 men contracted occupational allergic contact dermatitis from unsatur ated polyester (UP) cements. 4 of the men were employed in car repair painting and the remaining 2 in mold manufacturing. The exposure time to UP cements ranged from 6 to 32 years before onset of skin symptoms. All patients had eczema on their hands; in addition, 4 had skin sympt oms on airborne areas, i.e., wrists, neck and face. All 6 patients dev eloped allergic reactions when patch tested with UP resin at 0.5-10% i n petrolatum (pet.). None of the tested patients reacted to auxiliary or cross-linking chemicals of the cements. Diethylene glycol maleate ( DGM) was purified and identified from the UP resin of a cement. 1 pati ent reacting to UP resin was also patch test positive to DGM and he pr oduced an allergic reaction to DGM down to a concentration of 0.0032% pet. DGM was found in both uncured and cured UP resin. None of the pat ients could continue their work with UP cements after their sensitizat ion.