Does occupational exposure to glass-fibres increase the general skin reactivity to irritants?

A total of 33 workers at a glass-wool factory were tested (patch tests with glass-fibres and chemical irritants, epicutaneous tests with Trafuril and intracutaneous tests with histamine) before starting to work at the factory and then re-tested after at least 4 weeks of exposure to glass-fibres. No statistically significant differences in the intensity of the skin reactions before and after exposure were found. Thus no general increased irritancy of the normal skin was induced by the continuous exposure to glass-fibres.