Questionnaire study of the prevalence of allergic contact dermatitis from cosmetics in Israel

Background: The prevalence of cosmetics-related contact dermatitis is rising, owing mainly to the wider use of cosmetics by the public and the routine diagnostic use of patch tests. Objective: To determine the prevalence of cosmetics allergy in Israel. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 360 female customers of pharmacies and beauty salons in two areas of the country. Items included general health profile, family history of atopy, occurrence of rash due to patch-test-proven cosmetics allergy, anatomic sites of the rash, subjective aspects regarding the rash, and cosmetics consumption habits. Results: Patient age ranged from 15 to 89 years. Eleven subjects (3.1%) had patch-test-proven cosmetics allergic contact dermatitis. There was a correlation between proven cosmetics allergy and subjective sensitivity to facial cream (p = .03). Conclusions: The 3.1% prevalence rate of cosmetics contact allergic dermatitis in a randomly selected population in Israel is similar to values reported in the literature (about 2%). The higher-than-expected rate of subjective sensitivity to facial cream among patients with proven cosmetics allergy may be explained by the wide use of facial cream, facial skin susceptibility to insult, and the relatively long duration of contact of facial cream (a leave-on product) with the skin.