OCCUPATIONAL ALLERGIC CONTACT-DERMATITIS CAUSED BY DIETHYLENETRIAMINEIN CARBONLESS COPY PAPER

Carbonless copy paper, or 'no carbon required' (NCR) paper, has often been implicated as the cause of skin, respiratory, or general symptoms , but allergy has been verified in only a few cases. A 43-year-old mac hinist whose work involved the manufacture of NCR paper developed occu pational dermatitis on the hands. On patch testing, both the NCR paper and 1 of the chemicals used to produce the microcapsules of the NCR p aper, namely diethylenetriamine (DETA), provoked an allergic reaction. Analysis of the paper showed that it contained enough DETA to induce allergic contact dermatitis. People who handle NCR paper and develop s ymptoms of contact dermatitis should be patch tested with DETA.