Pesticide contact dermatitis in fruit and vegetable farmers of Himachal Pradesh (India)

Abstract

Background: Not many studies on pesticide allergic contact dermatitis are available from Himachal Pradesh (India).

Objective: We studied the role of commonly used pesticides in causing allergic contact dermatitis in fruit and vegetable farmers in the region.

Methods: 30 fruit and vegetable farmer patients having dermatitis involving face, neck, hands, and feet and 20 controls comprising 2 groups of 10 subjects each: Group-1 had history of exposure to pesticides but no dermatitis and Group-2 having neither dermatitis nor history of exposure to pesticides, were patch tested with 10 most common pesticides used in the region.

Results and conclusion: These 30 patients (M : F 21 : 9) were between 22-81 years of age having dermatitis for 4 days to 20 years with relapses and remissions. 21 patients had seasonal exacerbation. 10 patients attributed exacerbation of dermatitis to exposure to pesticides. Positive patch test reactions from pesticides were observed in 8 patients only. Captan was the most common sensitizer (5 patients), 2 patients were sensitive to propargite. Chlorpyrifos, tree spray oil and thiuram gave positive reaction in 1 patient each. 3 controls from Group-1 showed positive reactions to multiple pesticides. Pesticide related contact dermatitis appears more common than expected.