[Colophony allergy. A contribution to the origin, chemistry, and uses of colophony and modified colophony products, 1].

Colophony (rosin) derives from pine resin, tall oil and stump extractives. It is used as is or in chemically modified forms: hydrogenated, disproportionated, esterified, polymerized, as salt or reacted with maleic anhydride or formaldehyde. One of the largest single uses is in the sizing of paper and paperboard. There are hundreds of opportunities for a person to become exposed to colophony and modified products and thus sensitized to it, for example by contact with adhesive tapes, soaps, coating of price labels, eye shadow, periodontal and surgical dressings, furniture polish, glues, musician's rosin, printing inks, printing paper surfaces (newspapers), rubber, plastics etc. The main sensitising components seem to be abietic acid and Abitol (a mixture of different hydroabietyl alcohols). Dermatitis has been described in more than 60 articles; epidemiological studies demonstrate an increasing number of cases since 1980. As wood rosin has been replaced in recent years more and more by tall oil rosin, which is different in its composition, it is recommended to remove the colophony of the standard series (which is derived from pine gum) and to replace it by a mixture of pine, tall oil and stump rosin to diminish the number of probably missed allergic reactions.