Auckland Allergy Clinic ? WHAT?S NEW October 2004

Welcome to the Auckland Allergy Clinic web site. This section will bring you the latest breaking news in Allergy & Clinical Immunology and also additions we have made to the Clinic in the last month.

The Allergy News information provided on this web site is reviewed and approved by the Allergists at the Auckland Allergy Clinic. The information is sourced from International Medical Journals and Newspapers. These articles are chosen either because they are thought to be particularly good studies, very interesting Allergy News or relevant to New Zealand. The articles may not necessarily be the views of the editor. Where relevant the editor will add his/her comments at the bottom of the review.

These updates are provided for educational, communication and information purposes only.

Previous Newsletters:

August 2004
March 2004
January 2004

Colophony Sensitivity: From Sticking Plaster Allergy to Newspaper Allergy

Vincent St Aubyn Crump ? October 2004

"Doctor, I react to sticking plasters, glues, some soaps, dental floss, chewing gum, and the list keeps growing. Why am I becoming allergic to so many things?"

The most likely cause of your problem is worsening colophony sensitivity.

What is colophony?

Colophony, also known as rosin, is the yellow, sticky sap tapped from pine & spruce tree trunks. The living trees are 'tapped' and the rosin gum is distilled, producing turpentine oil and colophony. It is the complex natural residue left after distilling off the volatile oils.

Three types of colophony (gum, wood, and tall oil) are distinguished depending on the method of extraction.

Colophony is one of the causes of Allergic Contact Dermatitis (ACD). Nickel is probably the commonest allergen causing ACD in most countries, a prevalence of about 10%. About 2% of patients tested by the North America Contact Dermatitis Group had positive Patch Test reactions to Colophony 20% in petrolatum. Because colophony is found in such a wide range of "every-day products", it is very difficult to avoid, and is one of the most troublesome causes of ACD.

Colophony is also a well-recognised cause of occupational asthma. In New Zealand there have been several reports of Occupational Asthma due to colophony-containing solders in electronic workers. There have been 4 cases confirmed by the Notifiable Occupational Disease System (NODS) since they were established in 1992. (Published by OSH in the Report on NODS ? to the end of 1998)

A study done with New Zealand Pine Processing Sawmill workers & published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine in Feb 2001, concluded that "Working in pine sawmilling is associated with an increased prevalence of asthma and cough symptoms and eye and nose irritation."