Contact Allergy to Preservatives and Emulsifiers in Patients With or Without Atopic Dermatitis

Globally, 20% of children and up to 10% of adults have atopic dermatitis (AD). The impaired skin barrier function among AD patients may predispose them to a higher risk of contact allergy.

This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of contact allergy to preservatives and emulsifiers in AD patients compared with other dermatological patients (non-AD) patch tested in the period 2006-2023, as well as assess clinical relevance.

A retrospective analysis of patch test data was performed among 7936 patients consecutively patch tested with preservatives and emulsifiers in the baseline series at the Department of Dermatology and Allergy Centre, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.

Overall, no association between AD and contact allergy to preservatives was found. However, significantly more AD patients compared to non-AD patients had contact allergy to 2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1,3-Diol (1.8% versus 0.6%) and the emulsifier decyl glucoside (14.3% versus 3.1%). Non-AD patients had significantly more contact allergy to benzisothiazolinone (15.4%) compared to AD patients (8.1%).

This study showed no overall association between AD and a higher risk of developing contact allergy to preservatives, although differences were identified for a few individual preservatives and for decyl glucoside.