Chemical pollutants can change your skin bacteria and increase your eczema risk − new research explores how
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April 22, 2024
Ian Myles, Chief, Epithelial Therapeutics Unit, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases -
The Conversation
“We haven’t had a full night’s sleep since our son was born eight years ago,” said Mrs. B, pointing to her son’s dry, red and itchy skin.
Her son has had eczema his entire life. Also known as atopic dermatitis, this chronic skin disease affects about 1 in 5 children in the industrialized world. Some studies have found rates ofeczema indeveloping nations to be over thirtyfold lower compared with industrialized nations.
However, rates of eczema didn’t spike with the Industrial Revolution, which began around 1760. Instead, eczema in countries such as the U.S., Finland and other countries started rapidly rising around 1970.
To figure out what environmental changes may have caused a spike in eczema in the U.S., we began by looking for potential eczema hot spots – places with eczema rates that were much higher than the national average. Then we looked at databases from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to see which chemicals were most common in those areas.
Diisocyanates were first manufactured in the U.S. around 1970 for the production of spandex, nonlatex foam, paint and polyurethane. The manufacture of xylene also increased around that time, alongside an increase in the production of polyester and other materials.
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