A case of allergic contact dermatitis due to gold pierced earrings is reported. The patient developed recurring redness and swelling on her earlobes a month after the wearing of pierced-type gold earrings, which was followed by the appearance of reddish nodules around the puncture marks. Patch tests revealed positive reactions to 0.1% mercuric chloride, 1% gold sodium thiomalate and 0.2% chloroauric acid. We also demonstrated that guinea pigs contact-sensitized with a mercuric compound developed positive patch test reactions to both mercuric and gold compounds. These results suggest that there may be correlations between gold and mercury hypersensitivities.
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Osawa et al. (1994) studied this question.
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