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Background: Contact hypersensitivity quantitative risk assessment (QRA) for fragrance ingredients is being used to establish new international standards for all fragrance ingredients that are potential skin sensitizers., Objective: The objective was to evaluate the retrospective clinical data on three fragrance ingredients in order to provide a practical assessment of the predictive value of the QRA approach. It is important to have data to assess that the methodology provides a robust approach for primary prevention of contact sensitization induction for fragrance ingredients identified as potential sensitizers., Methods: This article reviews clinical data for three fragrance ingredients-cinnamic aldehyde, citral, and isoeugenol-to assess the utility of the QRA approach for fragrance ingredients., Results: This assessment suggests that had the QRA approach been available at the time standards were established for these fragrance ingredients, the clinical response might have been noticeably improved. Prospectively, with the establishment of QRA-derived standards, there should be a continued downward trend in patch test-positive rates for cinnamic aldehyde, citral, and isoeugenol over time., Conclusion: While it is recognized that the availability of retrospective data is limited, a longitudinal review of these data gives confidence that the QRA approach should be an effective tool for primary prevention. This study also highlights the importance of continued active monitoring of clinical patch-test data for fragrance ingredients.

Background: Nickel allergy has been studied by contact dermatitis groups around the world, and the frequency of nickel sensitivity has been reported to be decreasing in some populations., Objective: To review the prevalence of nickel allergy as observed by the North American Contact Dermatitis Group from 1992 to 2004., Methods: The computer database of the North American Contact Dermatitis Group was used to examine the prevalence of nickel allergy over the study period and to analyze it by time, sex, and age., Results: From 1992 to 2004, 25,626 patients were patch-tested. The percentage of women tested was fairly constant (61.4-66.3%). A steady increase in nickel sensitivity was seen from 1992 to 2004. Subgroup analysis did not identify a population with declining nickel allergy., Conclusions: Nickel allergy continues to increase in younger and older men and women patch-tested in North America.