Contact urticaria from mustard in fish‐stick production

Abstract

At a major fish factory in northern Norway, workers employed in fish-stick and fillet production participated in a survey on skin diseases. 122 (80.1%) of the workers in the fish-stick section responded, but only 60.7% of the fillet workers. Clinical examination and patch testing revealed 16 cases of occupational dermatitis among workers in fish stick production, 3 of whom had contact urticaria from mustard and 8 from fish. There were only found 6 cases of occupational dermatitis among fillet workers; 3 reacted to fish and 3 had irritant contact dermatitis. Working conditions are described for both locations. A greater exposure to irritants may in part explain the 10.7% occupational dermatitis in the fish-stick section compared to only 3.5% in the fillet section.

Fish skin‐induced dermatitis

“…1 Workers in the fishing industry are especially prone to irritant dermatitis through the handling of fish and fish products. Other reaction patterns to fish, including contact urticaria 2–4 and protein contact dermatitis, 5 have been described. We describe a case of probable irritant dermatitis caused by recreational exposure to fish skin.…”

“…The results of a survey of 122 workers at a major fish factory in Norway were published in 1987. 3 Clinical examination and patch testing revealed 16 cases of occupational dermatitis among workers in fish stick production, three of whom had contact urticaria from mustard and eight from fish. There were, in addition, six cases of occupational dermatitis among fillet workers; three reacted to fish and three had irritant contact dermatitis.…”

Allergic contact dermatitis from Capparis spinosa L. applied as wet compresses

“…Contact urticaria from mustard has also been described (12,13) and even both immediate-and delayed-type allergy in the same subject (14).…”

Oilseed rape—a new allergen?

“…Members of tbe Brassica family can cause a variety of allergic reactions depending on the route of contact. Anaphylaxis following ingestion has been reported with cabbage [11] and mustard [12 14], and contact sensitivity to members of the Bra.ssiea family can occur, whether exposure is domestic [15,16], or industrial [17,18]. There is an interesting cross-reactivity between isotbiocyanates (mustard oils) and food where those sensitized and also having astbma become sensitive to Brassica species, in particular mustard [19].…”