Occupational Cement Dermatitis and Cement Burns

Abstract

Cement is a material with a wide industrial usage and is the leading cause of occupational skin disorders in construction workers. Cutaneous exposure to cement, particularly wet cement, is reported to cause contact dermatitis, contact urticaria, and skin burn. These skin disorders often occur in construction settings; however, they are not extensively reported. A mini-review of literature was conducted; in addition, we present the case of a young African man who developed severe cement burn caused by wet cement when helping a friend to place a concrete floor. The most common skin lesions and symptoms in case of cement dermatitis are erythema, papules, hyperkeratosis, edema, and/or skin thickening, whereas cement burn is mostly characterized by pain, erosion, and even ulcerative lesions. Our cement burn patient was a 23-year-old male Congolese student who presented with multiple wounds all over his body at the admission. The lesions started 7 days earlier, shortly after having helped a friend to place concrete on a construction site. His job had mainly consisted of carrying buckets containing wet concrete. Prior to visiting us at the hospital, he has been applying palm oil on his wounds without untoward effects. The wounds healed after 3 weeks of conservative treatment.