Delayed contact hypersensitivity and surgical glove penetration with acrylic bone cements

Skin hypersensitivity was investigated in guinea-pig maximization tests with extracts from pellets of conventional polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) bone cements (Palacos R, Simplex RO) and a new methylmethacrylate/n-decylmethacrylate/isobornylmethacrylate (MMA/DMA/IBMA) mixture (Boneloc), but none of the three cements produced evidence of delayed contact hypersensitivity. Testings of the pure monomer compounds showed MMA to be an extreme sensitizer, whereas DMA and IBMA were only mild sensitizers. Fingers from three brands of surgical rubber gloves and a polystyrene-butadiene glove were immersed in water and filled with conventional MMA monomer, MMA/DMA/IBMA monomer or bone cements in the dough state, allowing cure inside the glove. In the surrounding water, no DMA or IBMA could be detected. The MMA concentrations were lower with MMA/DMA/IBMA monomer and curing Boneloc cement. The most resistant to conventional PMMA cement was one of the rubber gloves, whereas the polystyrene-butadiene glove allowed the highest penetration, and even dissolved in MMA monomer. The potential occupational hazard of skin sensitization is reduced with MMA/DMA/IBMA bone cement, preferably in combination with rubber gloves; but also polystyrene-butadiene gloves provide adequate protection.