Pesticide patch testing: California nursery workers and controls

Pesticide contact dermatitis in fruit and vegetable farmers of Himachal Pradesh (India)

BACKGROUND

Not many studies on pesticide allergic contact dermatitis are available from Himachal Pradesh (India).

OBJECTIVE

We studied the role of commonly used pesticides in causing allergic contact dermatitis in fruit and vegetable farmers in the region.

METHODS

30 fruit and vegetable farmer patients having dermatitis involving face, neck, hands, and feet and 20 controls comprising 2 groups of 10 subjects each: Group-1 had history of exposure to pesticides but no dermatitis and Group-2 having neither dermatitis nor history of exposure to pesticides, were patch tested with 10 most common pesticides used in the region.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

These 30 patients (M : F 21 : 9) were between 22-81 years of age having dermatitis for 4 days to 20 years with relapses and remissions. 21 patients had seasonal exacerbation. 10 patients attributed exacerbation of dermatitis to exposure to pesticides. Positive patch test reactions from pesticides were observed in 8 patients only. Captan was the most common sensitizer (5 patients), 2 patients were sensitive to propargite. Chlorpyrifos, tree spray oil and thiuram gave positive reaction in 1 patient each. 3 controls from Group-1 showed positive reactions to multiple pesticides. Pesticide related contact dermatitis appears more common than expected.

Contact dermatitis caused by pesticides among banana plantation workers in Panama

To characterize dermatitis related to pesticide exposures among banana plantation workers in Panama, the authors studied 281 workers seen at The Occupational Health Department of the Social Security Hospital of Changuinola and Puerto Armuelles between 1988-1992 and in 1993. Exposure data were collected through a standardized occupational health history. Physical examination, a standard patch test, and a pesticide patch test (PPT) were carried out. Of the 244 men (86.8%) and 37 women (13.2%), 17 and 37, respectively, were packing station workers. The other 227 men were field workers, exposed to many pesticides (propiconazole, maneb, chlorothalonil, dithane, dalaphon, ametrine; and gramoxone). The 54 packing station workers were exposed to imazalil, thiabendazole, aluminum hydroxide solutions, and formaldehyde. The hands were the most frequently affected areas (82%), followed by the thorax and abdomen (9%), legs and feet (5%), and genital area (4%). There were 78 positive PPTs (27.8%) in 281 patients. The most frequent reactions were to the fungicides chloro-thalonil (51.4%), thiabendazole (12.8%), imazalil (10.2%), and aluminum hydroxide (10.2%), which accounted for 85% of all positive tests. The majority of the cases were related to exposures to fungicides; 246 with negative PPTs were classified as irritant contact dermatitis patients; 48 controls were negatives. Contact dermatitis related to pesticide exposure is a significant occupational health problem for banana workers in Panama.