'Airborne' contact dermatitis due to Leica immersion oil

Background Contact dermatitis has often been described in healthcare staff, resulting essentially from the use of natural rubber latex gloves, antisep tics. and especially aldehydes. This study reports an unusual cause of cont act dermatitis in laboratory technicians. Materials and methods Four patients working in the bacteriology departments of three different hospitals were seen for airborne contact dermatitis. Al l were patch tested for specific plastics and glues. Results For all patients, positive patch reactions were obtained with class ic epoxy resins, such as diglycidylether of bisphenol, as well as with new types, such as diglycidylether of bisphenol F and an epoxyacrylate resin. C onclusions Although phenols and ether handled by the laboratory technicians and an epoxy mastic applied during floor repair were initially suspected, an immersion oil used in light microscopy proved to be the real cause of th e dermatitis. To our knowledge, these are the first reported cases due to t his type of contact.