Dimethyl ethanolamine-induced asthma.

Progressively severe sneezing, rhinorrhea, cough, wheezing, and dyspnea developed in a spray-painter, apparently in relation to exposure to a particular spray paint. A monitoring of exposure at work revealed the development of symptoms and a decrease in peak flow rates. Subsequent challenges in the laboratory performed under conditions resembling occupational exposure resulted in dual asthmatic responses on exposure to the whole paint (98 per cent methyl methacrylate emulsion and 2 per cent dimethyl ethanolamine solution) and to dimethyl ethanolamine solution (2 per cent) alone. Water, methyl methacrylate emulsion, and 1,4 dioxane (0.6 per cent) used as a thinner in the dimethyl ethanolamine did not produce a response in the airways. Allergy skin tests with dimethyl ethanolamine and a mixture of dimethyl ethanolamine and human serum albumin were negative. To our knowledge, this is the first report of asthma and/or rhinitis induced specifically by dimethyl ethanolamine. The mechanism of the specific reactivity is not known.