Leather Contains Cobalt and Poses a Risk of Allergic Contact Dermatitis: Cobalt Indicator Solution and X-ray Florescence Spectrometry as Screening Tests

TY - JOUR

T1 - Leather Contains Cobalt and Poses a Risk of Allergic Contact Dermatitis

T2 - Cobalt Indicator Solution and X-ray Florescence Spectrometry as Screening Tests

AU - Hamann, Dathan

AU - Hamann, Carsten R

AU - Kishi, Patrick

AU - Menné, Torkil

AU - Johansen, Jeanne Duus

AU - Thyssen, Jacob Pontoppidan

PY - 2016/7/1

Y1 - 2016/7/1

N2 - BACKGROUND: Cobalt was recently identified in a leather couch responsible for dermatitis. Cobalt content/release in leather in the United States is unknown. We evaluated leather for cobalt content/release and investigated screening methods for identifying cobalt in leather.METHODS: One hundred thirty-one leather swatches were screened for cobalt content/release with X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry and cobalt indicator solution (CIS). Samples with positive screens and 1 negative control were analyzed using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS).RESULTS: CIS showed that 5 of 131 samples contained cobalt, subsequently found to be between 1 and 190 parts per million (ppm) when evaluated with ICPMS. The XRF analysis showed that 6 samples contained >5% cobalt, subsequently found to contain greater than 300 ppm cobalt by ICPMS. 7 of 12 tested swatches contained cobalt in excess of 100 ppm. One sample contained greater than 1000 ppm cobalt. The prevalence of swatches containing cobalt at levels in excess of 190 ppm was at least 5% (n = 7; total, N = 131).DISCUSSION: Some leather consumer goods contain and release cobalt. Cobalt indicator solution is a poor screening test for cobalt in leather while XRF screening may be effective. Leather is a new source of cobalt exposure. Exposures to metal allergens are changing in ways that impact clinical decision making.

AB - BACKGROUND: Cobalt was recently identified in a leather couch responsible for dermatitis. Cobalt content/release in leather in the United States is unknown. We evaluated leather for cobalt content/release and investigated screening methods for identifying cobalt in leather.METHODS: One hundred thirty-one leather swatches were screened for cobalt content/release with X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry and cobalt indicator solution (CIS). Samples with positive screens and 1 negative control were analyzed using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS).RESULTS: CIS showed that 5 of 131 samples contained cobalt, subsequently found to be between 1 and 190 parts per million (ppm) when evaluated with ICPMS. The XRF analysis showed that 6 samples contained >5% cobalt, subsequently found to contain greater than 300 ppm cobalt by ICPMS. 7 of 12 tested swatches contained cobalt in excess of 100 ppm. One sample contained greater than 1000 ppm cobalt. The prevalence of swatches containing cobalt at levels in excess of 190 ppm was at least 5% (n = 7; total, N = 131).DISCUSSION: Some leather consumer goods contain and release cobalt. Cobalt indicator solution is a poor screening test for cobalt in leather while XRF screening may be effective. Leather is a new source of cobalt exposure. Exposures to metal allergens are changing in ways that impact clinical decision making.

KW - Journal Article

U2 - 10.1097/DER.0000000000000200

DO - 10.1097/DER.0000000000000200

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 27427822

SN - 1710-3568

VL - 27

SP - 202

EP - 207

JO - Dermatitis

JF - Dermatitis

IS - 4

ER -