Posted By Chris Packham
When I was on a lecture tour with a leading South African dermatologist she showed a photo of a facial rash in the form of a ring that corresponded to the contact area of the respirator. The assumption had been made of an allergy to the respirator material. The true cause was that the respirators were cleaned and the cleaner had not completely removed all the detergent residue from the mask, hence an irritant skin reaction.

Not uncommon is a skin reaction due to sweat trapping dust etc. where the mask meets the face.

As with all PPE, cleanliness, particularly where the PPE is in contact with the skin, is extremely important.

If an allergic reaction is suspected, then you need to services of a medical specialist (dermatologist) who can do a patch test to establish (a) whether this is a genuine allergy and (b) to what the person is reacting. Once you have this information then it is possible to develop a plan to manage the skin problem.

Incidentally, the Royal College of Physicians has just produced evidence based guidelines on managing dermatitis at work. You will find more on this on their website.

Chris