Patch testing with purified and oxidized citronellol

Background: Citronellol is a commonly used fragrance terpene included in fragrance mix II. As many other fragrance terpenes, citronellol is susceptible to autoxidation. Citronellol hydroperoxides are formed in large amounts and are the only oxidation products identified as sensitizers in oxidized citronellol.

Aim: To compare frequencies of contact allergy to purified and oxidized citronellol and to investigate the pattern of concomitant reactions to fragrance markers of the baseline series, oxidized linalool and oxidized limonene.

Patients and methods: 658 dermatitis patients were patch tested with purified and oxidized citronellol at 2.0%, 4.0%, 6.0% and 1.0%, 2.0%, 4.0%, 6.0%, respectively. The irritant properties of purified and oxidized citronellol were studied before patch testing.

Results: Few irritant reactions were observed in the pretest. Purified citronellol detected positive reactions in 0.15-0.31% of patients, while oxidized citronellol detected positive reactions in 0.61-4.5%. Among patients reacting to oxidized citronellol, 34-50% showed concomitant reactions to fragrance markers of the baseline series and 75-91% to oxidized linalool or oxidized limonene.

Conclusion: Oxidized citronellol detects more cases of contact allergy than purified citronellol, and these cases are not all detected using FM II. Patch testing with oxidized citronellol will add to the tools in diagnosis of fragrance allergy. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Keywords: allergic contact dermatitis; citronellol; fragrance mix II; fragrances; hydroperoxides; patch test; terpenes.