Time That Ever Rolling Stream

Just as a change from tracking hurricane and cyclones and looking at the volcano and earthquake web sites I venture into the Science things.

Google Scholar is a mine of information, although it needs patience to look through and see what may be what.

This one I found interesting:

Quote:

The frequency of fragrance allergy in patch-tested patients increases with their age.

D.A. Buckley,
R.J.G. Rycroft,
I.R. White,
J.P. Mcfadden

Article first published online: 24 NOV 2003

DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2133.2003.05491.x

Keywords:

age;
fragrance allergy;

patch testing;

perfume allergy

Summary

Background

The most likely age of sensitization to fragrance chemicals is unknown.

Objectives

To investigate the frequency of allergy to the 8% fragrance mix (FM) in each decade of life in patients undergoing patch testing for the investigation of skin symptoms.

Methods

Patients (n=23,846; 14,104 female and 9742 male) underwent patch testing to a standard series between 1 January 1984 and 31 December 1998. All data were recorded on a computerized database.

Results

We found that 8·4% of females and 6·4% of males were allergic to the FM. The frequency of fragrance allergy was low in the first two decades of life (2·5–3·4%).

It gradually increased in females after the age of 20 years to peak in the 60s at 14·4% of those tested, with a decline to 11·6% in the 80s.

The prevalence in males rose more slowly and peaked at 13·7% in the 70s, declining to 10·8% in the 80s.

The youngest patients sensitized were aged 2 years.

Conclusions

These findings support the hypothesis that allergy to fragrance results from a combination of repeated environmental exposure and age-related susceptibility factors.

Unquote

You have been warned.