Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: In September 2019, the 8th Occupational and Environmental Exposure of the Skin to Chemicals conference was held in Dublin, Ireland. Presentations highlighted innovative research and practice related to dermal exposure assessment, skin health, and skin science. The conference has a broad remit, seeking to bring together professionals from diverse backgrounds (occupational hygiene, occupational medicine, health and safety, dermatology, skin research, and consumer fields) with a common interest in skin issues—how chemicals impact the skin, penetrate the skin, and potentially cause systemic disease. There were themes of how to prevent adverse skin exposure (e.g. skin sensitizing chemicals, UV radiation) but also how chemicals can protect skin (e.g. through the use of barrier creams). Keynote speakers highlighted the key issues but also provided new perspectives, for example, Dan Whitby (Lake Personal Care) spoke about circadian effects on skin health and repair and Hazem Matar (University of Hertfordshire) presented work on the decontamination of casualties and emergency responders following exposure to toxic materials. The role of fundamental research was also highlighted with sessions on new measurement techniques and improved understanding of skin penetration and transport (e.g. Bisphenols uptake, Reale et al., 2020). This special issue includes 12 articles that draw upon work presented at the conference, and showcase the variety and value of information shared. The articles are organized by four themes: occupational hygiene, occupational health, toxicology, and training. The articles in this special issue remind us that dermal exposures to hazardous agents are ubiquitous, and produce significant occupational health burden. Consider skin cancer. Cherrie et al. (2020) determined that outdoor construction workers in Britain accumulate sufficient solar UV exposure over a working lifetime to more than double their risk of non-melanoma skin cancer. The magnitude of this risk and diverse array of exposures and risk factors that contribute to skin cancer development motivate the Total Worker Health approach used by Caban-Martinez et al. (2020) for skin cancer prevention among firefighters. There is a need for increased training for workers and occupational health professionals about prevention of skin exposures. Zack et al. (2020) found that workers with work-related contact dermatitis wanted more training about hazards, health impacts, symptoms, and personal protective equipment to prevent skin exposures. Gaskin et al. (2020) found that occupational hygienists also recognized a need for more information about assessing risks from dermal exposure to chemicals, despite having good understanding of common dermal exposure scenarios and adoption of a wide range of appropriate control strategies. This issue includes new methods for surveillance, such as corneocyte nanotexture as a biomarker for susceptibility to skin irritants (Ruther et al., 2020) and a contact dermatitis patch test database (Holness et al., 2020), and interventions, such as increased hygiene for wildland firefighters (Cherry et al., 2020) and an educational intervention for healthcare workers (Moldovan et al., 2020). These new methods and interventions can be incorporated into training for occupational hygienists. The conference also discussed risks in traditional industry sectors (such as construction and firefighting), newer industries (e.g. nail salons, Kalenge et al., 2020; Sanaat et al., 2020), and demographic changes that may influence susceptibility to disease (e.g. sex differences in welders’ susceptibility to dermatitis, Cherry et al., 2020). Many presentations from the conference remain available on the conference website (www.oeesc.com), and readers are encouraged to follow-up on the work presented in this issue by exploring these presentations. On behalf of conference co-chairs Helen Taylor and Kate Jones, and the International Scientific Committee, I am pleased to be able to showcase the great science exchanged at the 8th Occupational and Environmental Exposure of the Skin to Chemicals conference. Discussions have started about the 9th conference, which may take place in the USA in 2022. The author received no funding for this article. The author declares no conflict of interest.
Author: Rachael M Jones
Institution: University of Utah
Language: English
Subfield: Dermatology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3127316669