A new government study has found an association between diisocyanates, a class of widely used chemicals, and eczema, a chronic inflammatory skin disease.
People affected by eczema experience severe itching, skin redness, oozing from the skin, and scaly rashes, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). These symptoms can be painful, and can suddenly appear without any obvious trigger.
Eczema affects up to 20 percent of children and up to 10 percent of adults in industrialized countries. In the United States, the prevalence of eczema is three to six times higher than it was in the 1970s.
In a study published on Jan. 6 in Science Advances, a team of NIAID scientists tried to find out how certain environmental pollutants may be contributing to this increase. They focused on diisocyanates, which are used nationwide in polyurethane products such as foams, spray paints, and glues. The active portion of the diisocyanate molecule, the isocyanate side chain, is also a component known to trigger eczema….