ArticleContact dermatitis2026
Hand Eczema, Risk Factors and Microbial Skin Contamination in the Norwegian Waste Sorting Industry: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Article in Contact dermatitis, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Hand Eczema, Risk Factors and Microbial Skin Contamination in the Norwegian Waste Sorting Industry: A Cross-Sectional Study.Contact dermatitis · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
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Abstract
introductionHand eczema, skin barrier function and skin microbial contamination among waste workers are underexplored. This study aims to assess: (1) the prevalence and risk factors of hand eczema, (2) the levels of transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and (3) skin microbial contamination in waste sorting workers.
methodsUsing the Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire-2002, data were collected from 69 waste sorting workers and 25 office personnel. TEWL was measured with a Tewameter (TM 300, Courage+ Khazaka Electronic, Köln). Microbial skin samples were collected from the left dorsal hand with sterile swabs (Copan, Italy) and cultured. Analyses included descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression.
resultsThe hand eczema prevalence was 25% among waste workers and 40% in office personnel. The prevalence of hand eczema was significantly lower among exposed workers compared to controls (p = 0.012). TEWL and fungal concentrations were comparable across groups. Atopic dermatitis (AD) and nicotine use were significant predictors of HE. The prevalence of hand eczema experienced during the past week was significantly associated with elevated bacterial concentrations (p value = 0.05) in both groups.
conclusionsWaste sorting workers had up to 2.4 times higher prevalence of hand eczema compared with the general population, but a lower prevalence than office workers in the same industry. These findings may reflect a potential healthy worker effect. The potential role of bacterial concentrations in the occurrence of hand eczema warrants further investigation.
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