Identification of the etiological chemical agent(s) associated with a case(s) of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is important for both patient management and public health surveillance. Traditional patch testing can identify chemical allergens to which the patient is allergic. Confirmation of allergen presence in the causative ACD-associated material is presently dependent on labeling information, which may not list the allergenic chemical on the product label or safety data sheet. Dermatologists have expressed concern over the lack of laboratory support for chemical allergen identification and possibly quantification from patients' ACD-associated products. The aim of the study was to provide the clinician a primer to better understand the analytical chemistry of contact allergen confirmation and unknown identification, including types of analyses, required instrumentation, identification levels of confidence decision tree, limitations, and costs. New chemicals are continuously introduced into the market. Several animal-based screening methods (ie, guinea pig maximization test and the marine local lymph node assay) have been used to identify chemicals with contact allergenic potential; however, patients are continually diagnosed with allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) to previously unrecognized chemical allergens. Between 2008 and 2015, 172 new contact allergens were identified through patient patch testing (119 of these were associated with ACD) and reported in Contact Dermatitis and Dermatitis. 1 The actual number of new contact allergens is likely much higher because of incomplete product labeling, new allergens identified by patch testing but not reported in the literature, and those associated with ACD for which the Address reprint requests to