Photocontact allergy to oxybenzone: ten years of experience

Intolerance of sunscreen agents has often been reported in the literature. This mainly comprises photosensitization to sunscreens such as oxybenzone. The aims of this study were to establish the incidence of photocontact allergy to oxybenzone and its relationship with the use of other cosmetics. From 1982 to 1992 we performed photopatch tests on 283 patients with suspected photodermatosis. Forty-six patients (16%) had positive reactions: 61 positive photopatch tests and 9 positive patch tests. Photocontact allergy to sunscreens was divided into 2 main groups: 35 cases to oxybenzone and 17 cases to para-aminobenzoic acid and its derivatives. Among our 35 cases of photoallergy to oxybenzone, more than one third had photoallergy to a daily moisturizer that contained oxybenzone.