Multiple azo disperse dye sensitization mainly due to group sensitizations to azo dyes.

A female patient, with a previous episode of contact dermatitis caused by a blue dress, developed similar dermatitis due to a navy-blue dress. Patch tests revealed multiple allergic positive reactions to paraphenylenediamine (PPD), the navy-blue dress, its extracts, 6 azo disperse dyes in a textile series, as well as 3 dye components, including Disperse (DP) Red 153, which were present in the dress; these were composed of 9 azo disperse dyes, all dyes being of a different chemical structure. On the basis of chemical similarities between these 16 azo dyes including PPD, these are classified into the following 4 groups: thiazol-azoyl-PPD group (including DP Blue 106, DP Blue 124 and 5 used dyes), aminoazobenzene group (DP Red 1, DP Red 17, DP Brown 1 and 2 used dyes), PPD group (PPD and DP Orange 3) and benzothiazol-azoyl-PPD group (2 dyes in DP Red 153). With few exceptions, cross-sensitizations between dyes in the same group have been reported by other authors, or are suggested by us, in the former 3 groups. Multiple azo disperse dye sensitization is therefore considered to be attributable mainly to group sensitizations to azo dyes.