Occupational dermatoses from one-component epoxy coatings containing a modified polyamine hardener

In an electronics plant, 2 one-component epoxy coatings containing a modified polyamine hardener were used as covering materials for protecting important information on police radio circuit boards. The resinous parts of the coatings consisted of epoxy resins based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol F. The hardener was a dimethylaminopropylamine (DMAPA)-epoxy adduct and contained about 0.16% free DMAPA. Of 105 workers, 17 (16%) were diagnosed to have work-related dermatitis but were not patch tested. The hands were the commonly affected region (13 out of 17 cases). The latent period of dermatitis was very short (mean 21.5 days). The work-related dermatoses were closely related to the type of work and working periods. In the present study, hand protection and the introduction of automation have been demonstrated to be useful for the prevention of epoxy coating dermatitis.