Cost benefit of patch testing with textile finish resins

Eleven years experience of textile finish resin patch testing of suspected textile dermatitis patients revealed 15 cases of allergic textile dermatitis among 428 patients tested. Ten of the 15 patients had a relevant positive patch test to one or more of a limited series of textile finishes; 1 was negative and 4 were not tested with textile finishes. All 15 patients were formaldehyde sensitive. No unexpected, relevant, positive textile finish resin patch test was found. In this study a negative patch test to formaldehyde virtually excluded allergic contact dermatitis from textile finishes.