Occupational contact dermatitis to textile dyes in airline personnel

Background: Reports of textile dye allergic contact dermatitis are becoming frequent in the literature. Occupational exposure to textile dyes has been reported, but less frequently. Objective: To report 2 cases of allergic contact dermatitis to Disperse Blue dyes 106 and 124 occurring in airline personnel. Methods: The patients were patch tested to the European or North American standard series, a textile dye series, and 1 patient was tested with pieces of textile from an airplane seat. Results: Patch testing elicited in both patients a 2+ reaction to Disperse Blue dyes 106 and 124, and a 1+ reaction to paraphenylenediamine in one patient. Conclusion: We describe 2 cases of occupational textile dye allergy occurring in airline personnel. Both cases showed the utility of Disperse Blue dyes 106 and 124 to serve as the screening allergens for textile dermatitis. Mandatory uniforms might be an occupational hazard in certain professions.