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Contact sensitivity to emulsifiers
Author(s) -
Hannuksela Matti,
Kousa Merjä,
Pirilä Veikko
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
contact dermatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1600-0536
pISSN - 0105-1873
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0536.1976.tb03027.x
Subject(s) - triethanolamine , lanolin , stearate , sorbitan , irritation , chemistry , compounding , monoglyceride , allergy , glycerol , cosmetics , dermatology , organic chemistry , chromatography , medicine , pharmacology , analytical chemistry (journal) , fatty acid , immunology , fatty acid ester
Common emulsifiers were tested in over 1,200 patients with eczema. Triethanolamine stearate tested at 5 % in petrolatum caused irritant reactions in 9.5% of the patients. On the other hand, non‐ionic emulsifying agents tested at 10–20% produced irritation in only a few cases. Allergic reactions were found in 2.1% of those tested. Lanette, sorbitan sesquioleate, the Spans®, polyoxyethylene oxypropylene stearate, polyoxyethylene sorbitol lanolin derivative, and triethanolamine stearate each elicited allergic reactions in 0.3–0.7% of the cases. The Tweens® caused an allergy in only two cases, but glycerol monostearate caused no reaction at all. Five out of six patients sensitive to sorbitan sesquioleate reacted positively to the Spans® as well. The patients allergic to one or more emulsifiers were also sensitive to several other substances included in our routine test series with the exception of four patients who reacted only to the emulsifying agents.