Background: Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) to epoxy resins is one of the major causes of occupationally induced ACD. Testing of custom epoxy materials from the workplace is often performed to diagnose ACD.
Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the additive value of patch testing custom-made epoxy materials.
Method: We retrospectively analyzed outcomes of 24 patients who were tested to custom epoxy resin materials between January 2002 and July 2011.
Results: For 11 patients (46%), the testing of their materials from work had no additional value (negative results). For 13 patients (54%), there was an additional value of testing custom allergens. Of those, 7 patients (54%) had positive reactions to custom epoxy materials that reinforced the test results found with the commercially available allergens, and 6 (46%) patients had positive reactions only to custom epoxy materials. Therefore, for 6 patients (25%), there was a definite additive value of testing custom epoxy materials because the allergy was discovered with custom testing and not with the commercially available allergens.
Conclusions: Because of the high percentage (54%) of patients with additive value of patch testing custom epoxy materials, we think that the inclusion of actual workplace epoxy materials should be strongly considered when patch testing patients with occupational epoxy exposure.