A day in the life of a patch tester – Teens and padded bras – Formaldehyde
When you look into the eyes of a saddened 14 yo girl who’s dermatitis for the last 7 months has been so severe that we can’t see her nipples from her areola — your heart just breaks. You just have to find the answer and we did – patch testing revealed PTBFR in the foam of her bra…
The question is – what do you do? Cotton bras!!! But the teen says to me – I need padding – My ‘Macgyver-work around” cotton nursing pads sewn into a cotton bra!
Herro EM1, Friedlander SF, Jacob SE.Bra-associated allergic contact dermatitis: p-tert-butylphenol formaldehyde resin as the culprit. Pediatr Dermatol. 2012 Jul-Aug;29(4):540-1. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1470.2011.01533.x. Epub 2011 Oct 20.
“P-tert-butylphenol formaldehyde resin (PTBPFR) is recognized as a significant source of allergic contact dermatitis in adults and children in association with athletic gear, shoes, and neoprene. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of allergic contact dermatitis with PTBPFR associated with padded foam bras.”
Access the article here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22011272
Amazing macguyver solution! I do think that this issue and need could be pitched to an organic cotton clothing and undergarment maker for those less handy? The patch testing diagnosis in this case allowed a solution to be found. Amazing and important .