[Occupational skin diseases from material of the Regional Center for Occupational Medicine collected during the years 1979-1991].

The authors presented data on occupational skin diseases in the Bydgoszcz Region during the years 1979-1991. They described caused of these diseases with special reference to eczema which proved to be most common. During a thirteen-year period under study, 262 occupational skin diseases were diagnosed, out of them 243 (89.3%) were the result of allergy. Changes in skin induced by chromium, nickel or cobalt were confirmed in 171 diseases. Occupational chromium allergy was diagnosed in 153 patients. The following allergens proved to be responsible in most cases for eczema: in females: chromium as well as chromium, nickel and cobalt jointly, in males: chromium as well as chromium and cobalt jointly, in both genders: chromium as well as chromium and cobalt jointly. It was found that in females incidence of occupational allergic eczema induced by nickel was almost twice that high as in males; almost five times higher when induced by nickel and cobalt jointly and almost six times higher when induced by chromium, nickel and cobalt jointly. It was indicated that in males incidence of eczema induced by chromium is one and a half times higher than in females and almost two times higher when induced by chromium and cobalt jointly.