Allergic contact dermatitis caused by panthenol in a child

An 11-year-old girl presented with a history of two episodes of facial eczema, which developed 1 day after the application of make-up that was removed with ‘hypoallergenic’ facial wipes. She was patch tested with the British Society for Cutaneous Allergy baseline series, a facial series (Chemotechnique Diagnostics, Vellinge, Sweden), and the facial wipes (the only ‘own’ product made available for investigation). The patches were applied to her back with Finn Chambers® on Scanpor® tape (Vitaflo Scandinavia AB, Goteburg, Sweden). There was a positive (+) reaction to the facial wipes tested ‘as is’ on D2 and D4. The only other reaction was to methyldibromo glutaronitrile 0.3% pet. (D2, −; D4, +), of unknown relevance. The constituents of the facial wipes were supplied by the manufacturer, ready diluted for further patch testing. A positive reaction occurred to one of the constituents only, D-panthenol 75W (D2, +; D4, ++). This had been diluted to 30% in aqua by the manufacturer. Twelve control patients were patch test-negative to this compound.