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Kanerva's Occupational Dermatology pp 385–395Cite as

Antiseptics and Disinfectants

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Abstract

Antiseptics and disinfectants (see definitions) share common skin side effects, i.e., irritation, allergic contact dermatitis, and eventually immunological contact urticaria.

Some antiseptics fall into disuse, due to their lack of efficacy (dyes) or their strong allergic properties (mercurials), except thiomersal, the indications of which remain important.

Current antiseptics (i.e., povidone-iodine or chlorhexidine) are of great importance, due to the emergence of MRSA and CA-MRSA, leading to a decrease in the use of topical antibiotics to which Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria are more and more resistant.

Silver-based wound and burn dressings may lead to new cases of allergic contact dermatitis, mainly related to the incorporation of new antiseptics, such as octenidine or PHMB.

Disinfectants are a common source of occupational irritant and/or allergic contact dermatitis.

Aldehydes are widely used as disinfectants. Formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, and glyoxal are responsible for many cases of allergic contact dermatitis.

Quaternary ammonium compounds, and particularly benzalkonium chloride, are disinfectants provoking irritant and/or allergic contact dermatitis. The interpretation of patch tests is difficult, and the use of ROAT’s is advised

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit of Occupational and Environmental Dermatology, Catholic University of Louvain, 26, Avenue de Vincennes, B-6110, Montigny-le-Tilleul, Belgium

    Dr. Jean-Marie Lachapelle (Prof.Em. of Dermatology)

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  1. Dr. Jean-Marie Lachapelle
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Correspondence to Jean-Marie Lachapelle .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology and Allergology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Thomas Rustemeyer

  2. Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Jena, Jena, Germany

    Peter Elsner

  3. Department of Dermatology, Environmental Medicine and Health Theory, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany

    Swen-Malte John

  4. Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Howard I. Maibach

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Lachapelle, JM. (2012). Antiseptics and Disinfectants. In: Rustemeyer, T., Elsner, P., John, SM., Maibach, H.I. (eds) Kanerva's Occupational Dermatology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02035-3_36

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02035-3_36

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-02034-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-02035-3

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