Pesticides allergic sensitization

If data indicate that the pesticide may cause allergic effects, such as skin irritation or asthma, the label must say so. Labels sometimes refer to allergic effects as "sensitization."... 

Some people are sensitized to certain pesticides. After being exposed once or a few times without effect, they develop a severe allergy-like response upon later exposures. These allergic effects include ... 

Unfortunately, there is no way to tell which people may develop allergies to which pesticides. However, certain people seem to be more chemically sensitive than others. They develop an allergic response to many types of chemicals in their enviromnent. These persons may be more likely to develop allergies to pesticides. 

One excellent food that illustrates this dichotomy is the peanut. First, there is a well-documented physical hazard associated with children who choke on them. Should we label peanuts to protect us from these acute hazards, which probably killed more children than exposure to any trace level of pesticide on the same peanut Secondly, some individuals are acutely allergic to peanuts or any food containing them. This is a serious problem for those sensitive individuals, and efforts continue to be made to label foods containing peanuts to alert these individuals. The main toxicological problem of peanuts and products made from them, such as my personal dietary staple, peanut butter, is the problem of contamination with molds. Aflatoxin, found in moldy peanuts, is the most potent human carcinogen known and is well documented to produce liver cancer. 

Other lessons may be learned from this analogy, such as the difficulty of dealing with unusually sensitive or allergic individuals as well as environmental versus occupational exposure. The chances of bee stings dramatically increase if one is a beekeeper. Precautions are taken to ensure that such individuals are protected, as there is a real risk. The same holds for pesticides. 

Tetrachloroisophthalonitrile (chlorothalonil), a fungicide for agricultural and horticultural purposes, can also be used for other purposes. It is a skin irritant and a sensitizer. It has caused various skin affections, including contact dermatitis to workers in the production of the fungicide. Allergic dermatitis has been reported from exposure to the chemical used as a wood preservative (Bach and Pederson 1980 Spindeldreir et al. 1980 Johnsson et al. 1983) and as a pesticide in paints (Meding 1986 Liden 1990). 

Piraccini BM, Cameli N, Peluso AM, Tardio M (1991) A case of allergic contact dermatitis due to the pesticide maneb. Contact Dermatitis 24 381-382 Sharma VK, Kaur S (1990) Contact sensitization by pesticides in farmers. Contact Dermatitis 23 77-80... 

Recently Aiani and Alani (54 ) described a case of sensitivity to epinephrine eyedrops the patient showed positive allergic patch test reactions to the chloride solution of epinephrine, and furthermore reacted unexpectedly positive to diisopropyl fluoro-phosphate (DFP). There was no history of contact with pesticides of the organophos-phate group, which would explain this sensitivity to be of the cross-sensitivity type. 

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