Several cases of undesirable effects caused by methacrylate ultraviolet-curing nail polish for non-professional use.

BACKGROUND: Ultraviolet (UV)-curing nail polishes based on acrylates or methacrylates are currently also available for non-professional use. The Swedish Medical Products Agency recently prohibited one brand of UV-curing polish, because several consumers reported undesirable effects after using it. OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether consumers with undesirable effects after using the UV-curing nail polish that was later prohibited were contact allergic to the polish and its individual ingredients. MATERIALS/METHODS: Eight patients who had reported severe skin reactions after the use of the UV-curing polish were patch tested with two coatings of the nail polish and its ingredients at five dermatology departments in Sweden. RESULTS: All patients tested except one showed contact allergic reactions to one or several of the acrylate-based or methacrylate-based ingredients in the nail polish. CONCLUSIONS: The non-professional use of UV-curing nail polishes poses a risk of sensitization from acrylates and methacrylates.

Patch testing with own cosmetics-- prospective study of testing and reporting of adverse effects to the Swedish Medical Products Agency.

BACKGROUND: The Swedish Medical Products Agency (MPA) provides a voluntary reporting system for adverse reactions to cosmetics. However, the reporting is sparse, and the products involved are sometimes difficult to identify. OBJECTIVES: To investigate how often patients referred for patch testing were tested with the cosmetic products that they had been using themselves, and to improve the reporting to the MPA by the use of photographic documentation of product labels. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Consecutive patients at five dermatology departments who were patch tested with their own cosmetics were included. Reports including protocols of positive patch test results for the patients' own cosmetics and photographs/photocopies of product labels were sent to the MPA. RESULTS: Three hundred and sixteen of 948 patients (33%) were tested with their own cosmetics, and 15% of these tested positive with one or more products. The number of reports was more than three times higher than in corresponding periods in earlier years. For 79% of the products, photographs/photocopies of the containers were submitted, and for 30%, batch numbers were submitted. CONCLUSIONS: For a substantial number of patients, their own cosmetics were suspected of causing adverse reactions and were therefore tested. During the study, the number of reports to the MPA tripled, and the relevant products were easier to identify.

Can the reporting of adverse skin reactions to cosmetics be improved? A prospective clinical study using a structured protocol.

BACKGROUND: The use of cosmetics is rising, and adverse reactions to these products are increasing. In Sweden, the Medical Products Agency (MPA) keeps a voluntary reporting system for such adverse reactions. However, the reporting is sparse, consisting almost only of cases with test-proven allergic contact dermatitis, thus under-reporting the more common irritant reactions. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to try to improve the reporting system. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Dermatologists at 3 dermatology departments used a structured protocol during the clinical investigation of 151 consecutive patients reporting skin reactions to cosmetics. The protocol included symptoms, signs, affected body site, suspected products, and final diagnosis after patch testing. Based on clinical data and patch test results, a causality assessment for each product was made according to a protocol used at the MPA. RESULTS: Allergic contact dermatitis was found in 28% of the patients, and irritant reactions were equally common at 27%. CONCLUSIONS: Using this structured protocol, the cases of irritant dermatitis were also reported, and it is recommended that such a protocol is used as a standard to improve the reporting of adverse reactions to skin care products.

Are adverse skin reactions to cosmetics underestimated in the clinical assessment of contact dermatitis? A prospective study among 1075 patients attending Swedish patch test clinics.

It is known that cosmetics and skin care products can cause adverse skin reactions. However, the frequency of adverse reactions reported to the Medical Product Agency (MPA) in Sweden is low. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the occurrence of adverse skin reactions to cosmetics among patients referred for standard patch testing owing to suspected contact dermatitis in general, most frequently hand eczema. Consecutive patients at four patch test clinics in Sweden were invited to participate; 1075 were included. Of these, 47.3% (54.2% women and 30.8% men) reported current or previous adverse skin reactions to cosmetics and skin care products. This group showed significantly more positive patch test reactions, a higher prevalence of atopic dermatitis and the dermatitis was more frequently located in the face and neck region. Our results show that patients referred for standard patch testing have--or have had--a large proportion of self-reported adverse reactions to cosmetics or skin care products. We conclude that among patients with suspected contact dermatitis, adverse reactions to cosmetics can be a more important aetiological and/or complicating factor than is commonly acknowledged and that the reporting of such reactions to the MPA probably can be improved.