[Benign symmetrical lipomatosis--an occupational disease following exposure to tar?]

A recent publication poses the question of a relationship between workers exposed to tar and their tendency to develop benign symmetric lipomatosis (bsL). As this publication has already caused new problems for the assessment of tar exposure, the side effects of tar on the skin and the pathogenesis of bsL using the available literature are discussed. To date, it is not possible to present a coherent pathogenetic model of tar-induced bsL.