Navigation und Service

Loose-leaf collection "Chemicals and Contact Allergy" now complete

40/2001, 10.12.2001

244 chemical substances have now been evaluated with regard to their skin-sensitising potency and health relevance

At a symposium the BgVV Working Group "List of Allergens" today presented the revised and greatly enlarged final version of the loose-leaf collection "Chemicals and Contact Allergy". In this collection 244 chemical substances are evaluated with regard to their skin-sensitising potency and health relevance. The loose-leaf collection is intended as a working tool for practising doctors, scientific circles, industry and public authorities. It aims to help to prevent the occurrence of contact allergies.

Many synthetically manufactured chemicals and chemically defined ingredients of natural products may come into contact with the skin as components of household products, cosmetics or at the workplace. They may then trigger so-called allergic contact eczema. Chemicals vary considerably in their skin-sensitising potency and health relevance. The intensity of the allergy depends on individual predisposition, the spread of the allergen, the intensity and length of contact and the concentration of the substance that triggered the allergy. The reasons for the greatly differing individual sensitisation responses have not been fully established so far. Up to now, only an inadequate volume of validated epidemiological data has been available on the frequency of allergic reactions of this kind.

In order to prevent a contact allergy, information is required on the sensitising action of the substances and preparations, and possible exposure. This information is contained in the loose-leaf collection compiled by the Federal Institute for Health Protection of Consumers and Veterinary Medicine, BgVV, with the support of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety in cooperation with universities, the chemical industry and senior scientific bodies. 98 substances have been classified in category A "important contact allergens" and 77 substances in category B "justifiable suspicion of contact allergenic action". Category C encompasses 69 substances with rarely detected contact allergenic action.

The chemicals are classified in substance registers. They are identified by the name of the chemical substance, by known synonyms, by their so-called CAS number, the registration number of the Chemical Abstract Service, and by the structural formula.

The loose-leaf collection entitled "Chemicals and Contact Allergy - An Evaluative Compilation" is published by Urban & Vogel (Neumarkter Straße 43, 81673 Munich, ISBN 3-86094-163-1) and costs DM 149.90 or EUR 74.95.

Up