Abstract
Three chemicals for use in household products, N-(cyclohexylthio)phthalimide (CTP), diethylene glycol mono-n-butyl ether acetate (DEGBEA) and di-n-butyl sebacate (DBS), were evaluated for their skin sensitization potency in a modified guinea pig maximization test (GPMT). CTP, which is used as a rubber chemical vulcanization retarder, produced strong skin sensitization: even at the lowest intradermal dose (0.01 ppm), 30% of animals in the dose group were sensitized. DEGBEA and DBS failed to elicit a positive skin reaction even at maximal concentrations of intradermal injection and elicitation. CTP-sensitized animals reacted neither to phthalimide, which has the basic chemical structure of CTP, nor to dithiocarbamates (zinc dimethyldithiocarbamate, zinc diethyldithiocarbamate and zinc di-n-butyldithiocarbamate), which are well-known allergens and are suspected to cross-react to CTP from the results of human patch test study. The data demonstrate that skin sensitization is readily induced in GPMT by CTP, but not by DEGBEA or DBS.
