ABSTRACT
Skin sensitization resulting in allergic contact dermatitis is an important and not uncommon occupational health problem. Many hundreds of chemicals are known to have the potential to cause skin sensitization, and allergic contact dermatitis is the most common manifestation of immunotoxicity in humans. The immunology and immunotoxicology of skin sensitization have been considered elsewhere in recent years (Basketter et al., 1999a; Dearman and Kimber, 2003; Grabbe and Schwarz, 1998; Kimber et al., 2002a; Kimber and Dearman, 2003), and the purpose of this chapter is not to provide another general review. Our aim here is rather to first identify briefly recent advances in our understanding of the immunoregulatory mechanisms that might serve to negatively influence the induction and expression of skin sensitization, and second to survey developments in approaches available for hazard identification and characterization.
