Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Rod writes:
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
One family member works in a hospital, and almost certainly
due to frequently using alcohol hand wipes, she finds she
can't handle detergents anymore. She can't even go near a
decent washing up liquid and has to use one of the
eco-doesn't-actually-dissolve-any-grease ones.
Which alcohol? Ethanol or isopropanol?

I fell across an article the other day blaming erythromelalgia on
isopropanol (IIRC, in a carpet cleaning product).

Whatever is on the NHS alcohol hand wipes (I don't know).

If you have a pointer to the article, that would be interesting.


Thought that before I posted - but initially couldn't find it. But
slight change in search terms and voila!

Vet Hum Toxicol. 2004 Feb;46(1):24-5.

Acute neuropathy and erythromelalgia following topical exposure to
isopropanol.
Rajabally YA, Mortimer NJ.

Department of Neurology, University Hospitals of Leicester, Royal
Infirmary, Leicester, United Kingdom.

Adverse effects resulting from topical exposure to isopropanol appears
exceptional in adults with intact skin. We describe the case of a young
woman who developed an acute sensori-motor axonal polyneuropathy after
walking bare-feet for several hours on carpets soaked by a disinfectant
containing isopropanolol. The persistence and severity of symptoms
raised the possibility of her neuropathy being partly related to
immunizations she received 1 mo earlier. The occurrence shortly after
contact, however, strongly suggested responsibility of the dermal
isopropanol exposure. This case being, to our knowledge, the second
reported, peripheral nerve toxicity appears possible in adults on
prolonged topical exposure, probably in susceptible individuals.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14748412

Erythromelalgia is usually regarded as a rare skin/vascular problem
(around 32.5 to 10 in a million). Alcohol consumption (ethanol) is often
a problem for sufferers.

http://www.erythromelalgia.org/tea/skins/cms/index.php

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org