[Alkali neutralization and alkali resistance in persons with healthy skin and in eczema patients]

Alkali resistance (AR) and alkali neutralisation (AN) time, according to Tronnier and Bussius, were measured at three month intervals on 77 people with healthy skin and compared with test results from 205 patients with occupational dermatitis for whom expert opinion had been given once or several times. It was established that AN and AR react independently of one another. No significant difference was noted in either of the groups with reference to sex, age, occupation and skin type, nor in the ill patients with reference to the duration of the dermatitis, reduction in earning capacity, sensitivity or state of illness at the time opinion was given. Both AN and AR changed usually in the course of occupational dermatitis, however not parallel to one another, nor in relation to the respective skin condition. An and AR results from the dermatitis patients are significantly worse than those from persons with healthy skin tested as comparison. 35% of the healthy persons had pathological AR. In spite of considerable variations in AN in individuals, a satisfactory reproduction of the test results was obtained both for the AN and AR in repeated investigations.