The significance of chromate ingestion in patients allergic to chromate

A double-blind study was carried out to demonstrate the significance of chromate ingestion in the persistence of chromic chromate dermatitis. Each of 31 chromate-allergic patients was given one tablet containing 7.1 mg potassium dichromate, plus a placebo tablet. The dermatitis of 11 of the 31 patients flared after the ingestion of chromate, but not after placebo. 3 patients had equivocal reactions to both tablets; the dermatitis worsened in 2 patients following ingestion of the placebo but not after the chromate tablet. No statistically significant difference could be found between reactivity to chromate and eczema of dyshidrotic morphology. Nor was it possible to correlate the degree of patch test reactivity to the reaction following chromate ingestion. It is concluded that a low-chromate diet is of value in the management of patients with chronic chromate dermatitis.