Contact allergies are complex diseases, and one of the important challenges for public health and immunology. The German ‘Federal Institute for Risk Assessment’ hosted an ‘International Workshop on Contact Dermatitis’. The scope of the workshop was to discuss new discoveries and developments in the field of contact dermatitis. This included the epidemiology and molecular biology of contact allergy, as well as the development of new in vitro methods. Furthermore, it considered regulatory aspects aiming to reduce exposure to contact sensitisers. An estimated 15–20% of the general population suffers from contact allergy. Workplace exposure, age, sex, use of consumer products and genetic predispositions were identified as the most important risk factors. Research highlights included: advances in understanding of immune responses to contact sensitisers, the importance of autoxidation or enzyme-mediated oxidation for the activation of chemicals, the mechanisms through which hapten-protein conjugates are formed and the development of novel in vitro strategies for the identification of skin-sensitising chemicals. Dendritic cell cultures and structure-activity relationships are being developed to identify potential contact allergens. However, the local lymph node assay (LLNA) presently remains the validated method of choice for hazard identification and characterisation. At the workshop the use of the LLNA for regulatory purposes and for quantitative risk assessment was also discussed.

Studies in guinea pig and man have shown that eugenol can quench non-specifically contact urticarial responses, whereas limonene seems largely ineffective. In a comprehensive series of studies, there was little evidence of quenching of delayed contact hypersensitivity reactions to cinnamic aldehyde or citral, including in 'pre-quenched' material supplied by a perfume/flavour company, and in a similar mixture prepared in this laboratory, in the guinea pig model. In addition, there was no evidence of the quenching by eugenol of allergic reactions to cinnamic aldehyde in a panel of human subjects with a proven history of cinnamic-aldehyde-induced allergic contact dermatitis. Overall, the results lend little credibility to earlier literature reports of quenching phenomena in delayed contact hypersensitivity responses.

Skin sensitization associated with allergic contact dermatitis is a common health problem and is an important consideration for toxicologists in safety assessment. Historically, in vivo predictive tests have been used with good success to identify substances that have the potential to induce skin sensitization, and these tests formed the basis of safety evaluation. These original tests are now being replaced gradually either by in vitro assays or by further refinements of in vivo methods such as the local lymph node assay. Human data have also been available to inform classification decisions for some substances and have been used by risk managers to introduce measures for exposure reduction. However, humans encounter hazards in the context of exposure rather than in the form of intrinsic hazards per se, and so in this article, we have examined critically the extent to which human data have been used to refine classification decisions and safety evaluations. We have also evaluated information on the burden of human allergic skin disease and used this to address the question of whether, and to what extent, the identification and evaluation of skin sensitization hazards has led to an improvement of public and/or occupational health.

The mouse IgE test is a novel approach to the predictive identification of chemicals that have the potential to cause sensitization of the respiratory tract. The method is based upon measurement of induced changes in the serum concentration of IgE in BALB/c strain mice following topical exposure to the test chemical. The investigations described here were undertaken to examine the stability of the assay, to evaluate the utility of trimellitic anhydride (TMA) and 2,4‐dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) as, respectively, positive and negative controls for use in the test and to consider criteria for the classification of chemicals as potential respiratory allergens based upon changes induced in serum IgE concentration. On the basis of fifteen independent experiments it was found that, while there was some intra‐ and inter‐test variability with respect to absolute concentrations of IgE measured in the sera of individual mice, the relative pattern of reactivity observed following treatment of mice with TMA, DNCB or with vehicle (4:1 acetone:olive oil) alone remained consistent. In each experiment treatment with TMA provoked a very substantial increase in serum IgE relative to vehicle controls. In no instance did exposure of mice to DNCB cause an increase in the concentration of serum IgE, and in some instances treatment with this chemical resulted in reduced IgE levels. In a parallel series of experiments it was found that serum IgE concentrations in vehicle‐treated mice were comparable with those found in the serum of untreated animals. It is concluded that the differential ability of chemicals to induce changes in the concentration of serum IgE in BALB/c mice is a stable phenomenon. It is recommended that, in practice, TMA and DNCB should be incorporated in mouse IgE tests as, respectively, positive and negative controls. Finally, it is proposed that activity in the test is assessed as a function of induced changes in serum IgE levels relative to concurrent vehicle controls, rather than by reference to historical normal range values.