INHERENT SENSITIVITY OF THE SKIN TO NICKEL AND COBALT (ALLIED ELEMENTS IN GROUP VIII, PERIODIC SYSTEM)

Abstract

Inherent sensitivity of the skin to nickel, in contrast to the acquired form, which has been found so frequently among those who work with nickel, seldom has been described. Allusions are made, however, to a "natural" susceptibility among certain workers, especially blond people and young women. Indeed, a real distinction may be made between inherent and acquired sensitivity of the skin to external sensitizing agents. In that group in which sensitiveness to nickel is acquired are placed those cases of "irritative dermatitis" in which, by repeated contact of the skin with solutions of nickel salts or finely divided particles of nickel dust, an eruption develops at the site of exposure. This does not imply a latent sensitivity, for after a certain period of exposure this lesion may develop under certain conditions of heat and moisture in any person exposed for a sufficiently long period. Quite analogous is the experiment described by