A broad overview was offered of occupational dermatoses drawn from the perspectives of clinical diagnosis and primary care prevention. The disorders covered were those most likely to be seen by clinical dermatologists. Health statistics were briefly noted regarding the incidence of occupational skin diseases, the proportion of these diseases classified as contact dermatitis, and hazardous occupations and exposures. Specific occupational dermatoses covered included irritant contact dermatitis (clinical features, common irritants, predisposing risk factors, confirmatory tests, and references); allergic contact dermatitis including common allergens; photodermatitis including common phototoxins and photoallergens; toxic vitiligo; oil acne and chloracne; systemic urticaria, contact urticaria, and flushing; neoplasms; infections and infestations; connective tissue disorders; and climatic disorders including miliaria rubra, asteatotic eczema, and low humidity dermatosis. Methods for the prevention of occupational dermatoses were discussed, including the isolation, containment or enclosure of the process involving a causal agent; personal protection through the use of protective clothing and barrier creams; good hygiene practices on the job; and preemployment screening to check for atopy and active skin disease. Workers' compensation, impairment, and disability were also considered, with specifications listed which were the responsibility of the clinical dermatologist and the workers' compensation bureau.
Dr. C.G. Toby Mathias, Industrywide Studies Branch, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH 45226
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.
For more information on CDC's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.
CDC.gov Privacy Settings
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page.