Occupational Contact Dermatitis in the Food Industry

Background: Contact dermatitis accounts for 90% of all occupational skin diseases which is considered a costly occupational disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate contact dermatitis and relevant occupational factors among food industry workers. Study Design: The present cross-sectional study was carried out among food supply, production, distribution and preservation centers of Mashhad, Iran from 2017 to 2018. Methods: Workers in food industry who were referred to periodic training centers for employees entered the study with at least one year of work experience. The two-part questionnaire including demographic and occupational information and the occupational skin questionnaire (Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire (NOSQ-2002/SHORT), which is validated in Persian, was filled by the participants. Individuals with dermatitis were examined and the results were recorded. Results: A total of 384 food industry workers entered the study including 316 (82.3%) men and 68 (17.7%) women. 32 (8.4%) subjects were suffering from eczema, among which 25 (78.1%) had hand eczema, 6 (18.8%) had both wrist and hand eczema and 1 (3.1%) had eczema confined to the wrist. The statistical analysis revealed that gender and previous familial and personal history of atopy were significantly correlated with hand and wrist eczema (P-value ≤0.05 was significant). Conclusion: Prevalence of dermatitis varies in food industry workers regarding the job status. In this study, occupational dermatitis proved to be more prevalent among men and individuals with a personal or family history of atopy, thus these people should be under strict supervision of health practitioners working in the food industry. Further studies are recommended among the employees of certain subunits of the food industry.