Patch testing with a textile dye mix with and without Disperse Orange 3

Background The textile dye mix (TDM) 6.6% pet. contains Disperse Blue (DB) 35, Disperse Yellow 3, Disperse Orange (DO) 1 and 3, Disperse Red 1 and 17, and DB 106 and 124. The most frequent allergen in TDM‐positive patients is DO 3. Around 85% of p ‐phenylenediamine (PPD)‐allergic dermatitis patients have shown positive patch test reactions to DO 3. There has been a discussion to exclude DO 3 from TDM 6.6% because of frequent, strong reactions to TDM 6.6% and PPD. Objectives To study if DO 3 can be omitted from a TDM. Methods Patch tests were performed on 2250 dermatitis patients with TDM 6.6%, TDM 5.6% pet., TDM 7.0% pet., and PPD 1.0% pet.; 122 patients were also patch tested with DO 3 1.0% pet. Results Among the 2250 patients patch tested, contact allergy prevalence to TDM 6.6% was 2.4%, to TDM 5.6% 1.8%, and to TDM 7.0% 2.0%. Of the 54 TDM 6.6%‐positive patients, 55.6% reacted to PPD; as much as 42.2% of PPD‐allergic women and 50% of PPD‐allergic men reacted to TDM 6.6%. Of the 17 DO 3‐positive patients, 94.1% showed a positive reaction to PPD. Conclusion Results indicate that DO 3 can probably be omitted from TDM, but patch testing with TDM 6.6%, TDM 7.0%, DO 3 1.0%, and PPD 1.0% simultaneously is needed to finally decide whether it is possible or not.