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Five cases of allergic contact dermatitis associated with occupational exposure to spices were examined. The cases consisted of four females, 39 to 52 years (yr) old, and a 27yr old male with apparent spice induced contact allergy identified from among 43 patients evaluated at an occupational health clinic between 1991 and 1995. All five patients had hand or finger dermatitis that apparently was associated with their employment as a chef or kitchen assistant or coffee room or restaurant worker. All had shown positive responses to prick or patch testing with garlic, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and clove. Patch testing with paprika induced a weak or equivocal patch test response in two patients. Additional patch testing with food allergens produced positive responses to tomato, lettuce, and carrot in two patients. A positive prick test to onion seen in one patient was confirmed by a radioallergosorbent assay which showed that the response was immunoglobulin-E mediated. The authors conclude that the five patients had occupationally related allergic contact dermatitis induced by their exposure to spices.
Contact Dermatitis, 35(3):157-162, 1996. (37 references)
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