Epoxy Resins

Introduced in 1946, the epoxy resins are finding increasing use in industry.1,2Associated with this use has been the occurrence of severe dermatological problems, for the chemicals used in the resins are sensitizers and irritants. Although the technical literature on the epoxy resins is expansive, little has appeared in the medical literature about them. The only reports to the date of this writing in this country have been those by Klauder and Combes,3who mention them briefly, and by Savitt.4Bourne5has reported in the foreign literature about their skin-irritating properties. The industrial physician and the dermatologist are running into the name "epoxies" with increasing frequency. There is a distinct need, then, for a description of their current uses and a consideration of their chemical and dermatological aspects along the lines of prior studies which I have undertaken in the cases