ABSTRACT
Skin-protection products are used in the occupational fi eld to protect the skin against hazards from the workplace. One major measure utilizes the barrier creams (BC) in the prevention of contact dermatitis (CD) including both of irritant contact dermatitis (ICD) and allergic contact dermatitis (ACD), which is a major occupational disease, with a signifi - cant medical, economical, and social impact. However, BC are recommended only for low-grade irritants (water, detergents, organic solvents, cutting oils) (Frosch et al., 1993a; Zhai and Maibach, 1996b; Wigger-Alberti and Elsner, 1998) and cannot replace other protective measures such as gloves. Their efficacy in reducing the developing ICD and ACD have been documented in in vitro and in vivo experimental studies (Frosch et al., 1993a; Lachapelle, 1996; Zhai and Maibach, 1996a, 1999, 2002; Wigger-Alberti and Elsner, 1998, 2000a,b; Maibach and Zhai, 2000). However, inappropriate BC application may induce a deleterious rather than a beneficial effect (Goh, 1991a,b; Frosch et al., 1993a,b,c,d; Treffel et al., 1994; Zhai and Maibach, 1996b; Lachapelle, 1996). Two major reasons might generate these divergent results: one is the design defect of the BC; another possibility relates to the testing models. Thus, the methodology is important and hence the accuracy of results depends on the choice of proper models.
