ABSTRACT
Irritant contact dermatitis is a localized nonimmunological inflammatory response to one or more external agents. These agents are called irritants. Any agent that produces damage is an irritant. Damage is caused by the chemical, physical, or mechanical properties of the agent. The dermatitis may be caused just by one agent, by repetition of the same agent in time, or as the cumulative effect of minor damage caused by a wide variety of different agents to which the skin is exposed simultaneously or one after the other.
