#Cobalt chloride skin#
#Cobalt chloride Patch#

What is the differential diagnosis for cobalt allergy? Rarely, intradermal tests or oral challenge tests may be appropriate.

#Cobalt chloride Patch#

Purpuric patch test reactions are peculiar to cobalt due to a poral reaction to cobalt accumulation in the eccrine glands and are not indicative of cobalt allergy. Photopatch testing with cobalt is required if a photocontact dermatitis is suspected. A positive reaction to nickel is likely to be due to dual sensitisation rather than cross-reactivity.Ĭobalt naphthenate used in the polyester resin and plastics manufacturing industries can also cause an allergic contact dermatitis, but this may not be detected by the standard patch test with cobalt chloride. Pain and loosening of the implant have been reported.Īllergic contact dermatitis due to cobalt is diagnosed on patch testing with 1% cobalt chloride hexahydrate. Orthopaedic and other implanted metal devices can sometimes result in intractable generalised dermatitis in cobalt-allergic patients.Vitamin B12 injections (cyanocobalamin) can also cause local injection site reactions, hand dermatitis, and anaphylaxis. Patients with allergic contact dermatitis to cobalt taking oral vitamin B12 (cobalamin) supplements may develop chronic vesicular hand dermatitis, cheilitis, stomatitis, or systemic contact dermatitis.Secondary bacterial infection or autoeczematisation of the dermatitis.What are the complications of cobalt allergy? Dust containing cobalt may cause asthma in metal workers.Erythema multiforme has been rarely reported.Cobalt blue used in light blue tattoos can cause sarcoidal allergic reactions.Photosensitive dermatitis has been reported with cement and pig fodder.Cobalt allergy usually presents as a chronic or subacute allergic contact dermatitis at sites with direct contact but may become more extensive.What are the clinical features of cobalt allergy? Medical devices, eg orthopaedic implants, stents, pacemakers, medication pumps.

Cosmetics – especially eye shadow, blushers, and compact powders.

Metal household items (eg, cutlery, zippers, coins, keys,).

What causes cobalt allergy?Ĭobalt is commonly used as a binding agent in the manufacture of ‘hard’ metals with increased wear resistance such as drills and cutting tools.

#Cobalt chloride skin#

One study reported an increased prevalence of cobalt allergy in people with skin of colour.Ĭobalt allergy can coexist with other metal allergies such as nickel and chromate. It shows a female predominance (2:1) and is commonly associated with atopic dermatitis.

Who gets cobalt allergy?Ĭobalt allergy affects about 2% of the general population and can develop at any age, including in children. The name comes from the German word ‘Kobold’ meaning goblin or elf.Ĭobalt was the American Contact Dermatitis Society’s 2016 Contact Allergen of the Year. It is also called cobalt dichloride hexahydrate, cobalt blue, cobaltous chloride hexahydrate, and cobalt hexahydrate. 5 found that dihydroergotamine inhibits hyperglycæmia caused by cobalt chloride, but not the effect of the hyperglycæmic factor.Cobalt is one of the most common metals to cause contact allergy via a delayed hypersensitivity reaction. Also, more of the hyperglycæmic factor could be extracted from the pancreas after such destruction of α-cells than from normal controls 4. This hypothesis is invalidated by the facts that animals treated with cobalt chloride do not become hypoglycæmic and that repeated injections evoke transitory hyperglycæmic responses even after the α-cells are no longer demonstrable histologically 3. Since administration of cobaltous salts also elicits a transitory hyperglycæmia 2,3, it has been suggested that they initially excite the α-cells, and then cause them to degenerate 2. When administered parenterally, simple cobaltous salts damage selectively the α-cells 2, and were therefore considered useful for investigating whether the hyperglycæmic factor meets the criteria of a hormone. THE hyperglycæmic glycogenolytic factor found in the pancreas of normal and of alloxan-diabetic animals was assumed to be the product of the α-cells of the Langerhans islets 1.