T Rantanen1. 1. Dermatology and Allergology, Central Hospital, Päijät-Häme Social and Health Care Group, FI-15850 Lahti, Finland. tapio.rantanen@phsotey.fi
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A small epidemic of severe contact dermatitis cases related to newly acquired sofas and chairs has surpassed the news threshold in Finland and the U.K. OBJECTIVES: To study affected patients and to identify the cause. METHODS: Five patients with contact dermatitis related to a newly purchased chair or sofa were studied. Furniture samples were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Compounds were identified using a mass spectrum library and measured semiquantitatively. Patch tests were performed with commercial standard allergens, furniture upholstery and chemicals found in the analysis. RESULTS: Patch tests with commercial allergens did not solve the problem. Up to 470 microg kg(-1) of dimethylfumarate was found in chairs. The patients showed strong positive patch test reactions to upholstery fabric samples and to dimethylfumarate, down to a level of 1 p.p.m. in the most severe case. CONCLUSIONS: The cause of the Chinese sofa/chair dermatitis epidemic is likely to be contact allergy to dimethylfumarate, a novel potent contact sensitizer.
BACKGROUND: A small epidemic of severe contact dermatitis cases related to newly acquired sofas and chairs has surpassed the news threshold in Finland and the U.K. OBJECTIVES: To study affected patients and to identify the cause. METHODS: Five patients with contact dermatitis related to a newly purchased chair or sofa were studied. Furniture samples were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Compounds were identified using a mass spectrum library and measured semiquantitatively. Patch tests were performed with commercial standard allergens, furniture upholstery and chemicals found in the analysis. RESULTS: Patch tests with commercial allergens did not solve the problem. Up to 470 microg kg(-1) of dimethylfumarate was found in chairs. The patients showed strong positive patch test reactions to upholstery fabric samples and to dimethylfumarate, down to a level of 1 p.p.m. in the most severe case. CONCLUSIONS: The cause of the Chinese sofa/chair dermatitis epidemic is likely to be contact allergy to dimethylfumarate, a novel potent contact sensitizer.
Authors: Nikolaos G Papadopoulos; Ioana Agache; Sevim Bavbek; Beatrice M Bilo; Fulvio Braido; Victoria Cardona; Adnan Custovic; Jan Demonchy; Pascal Demoly; Philippe Eigenmann; Jacques Gayraud; Clive Grattan; Enrico Heffler; Peter W Hellings; Marek Jutel; Edward Knol; Jan Lötvall; Antonella Muraro; Lars K Poulsen; Graham Roberts; Peter Schmid-Grendelmeier; Chrysanthi Skevaki; Massimo Triggiani; Ronald Vanree; Thomas Werfel; Breda Flood; Susanna Palkonen; Roberta Savli; Pia Allegri; Isabella Annesi-Maesano; Francesco Annunziato; Dario Antolin-Amerigo; Christian Apfelbacher; Miguel Blanca; Ewa Bogacka; Patrizia Bonadonna; Matteo Bonini; Onur Boyman; Knut Brockow; Peter Burney; Jeroen Buters; Indre Butiene; Moises Calderon; Lars Olaf Cardell; Jean-Christoph Caubet; Sevcan Celenk; Ewa Cichocka-Jarosz; Cemal Cingi; Mariana Couto; Nicolette Dejong; Stefano Del Giacco; Nikolaos Douladiris; Filippo Fassio; Jean-Luc Fauquert; Javier Fernandez; Montserrat Fernandez Rivas; Marta Ferrer; Carsten Flohr; James Gardner; Jon Genuneit; Philippe Gevaert; Anna Groblewska; Eckard Hamelmann; Hans Jürgen Hoffmann; Karin Hoffmann-Sommergruber; Lilit Hovhannisyan; Valérie Hox; Frode L Jahnsen; Omer Kalayci; Ayse Füsun Kalpaklioglu; Jörg Kleine-Tebbe; George Konstantinou; Marcin Kurowski; Susanne Lau; Roger Lauener; Antti Lauerma; Kirsty Logan; Antoine Magnan; Joanna Makowska; Heidi Makrinioti; Paraskevi Mangina; Felicia Manole; Adriano Mari; Angel Mazon; Clare Mills; Ervinç Mingomataj; Bodo Niggemann; Gunnar Nilsson; Markus Ollert; Liam O'Mahony; Serena O'Neil; Gianni Pala; Alberto Papi; Gianni Passalacqua; Michael Perkin; Oliver Pfaar; Constantinos Pitsios; Santiago Quirce; Ulrike Raap; Monika Raulf-Heimsoth; Claudio Rhyner; Paula Robson-Ansley; Rodrigo Rodrigues Alves; Zeljka Roje; Carmen Rondon; Odilija Rudzeviciene; Franziska Ruëff; Maia Rukhadze; Gabriele Rumi; Cansin Sackesen; Alexandra F Santos; Annalisa Santucci; Christian Scharf; Carsten Schmidt-Weber; Benno Schnyder; Jürgen Schwarze; Gianenrico Senna; Svetlana Sergejeva; Sven Seys; Andrea Siracusa; Isabel Skypala; Milena Sokolowska; Francois Spertini; Radoslaw Spiewak; Aline Sprikkelman; Gunter Sturm; Ines Swoboda; Ingrid Terreehorst; Elina Toskala; Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann; Carina Venter; Berber Vlieg-Boerstra; Paul Whitacker; Margitta Worm; Paraskevi Xepapadaki; Cezmi A Akdis Journal: Clin Transl Allergy Date: 2012-11-02 Impact factor: 5.871