A report from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota suggests that there is one particular chemical, the preservative methylchloroisothiazolinone or MCI, regularly used in wet wipes (which are becoming increasing popular amongst adults), which causes rashes which can often be mistaken for symptoms of an existing condition by those suffering from eczema, psoriasis or allergic or contact dermatitis.
They quote four cases of adults who suffered from disabling rashes around the anus which cleared up as soon as they stopped using the wet wipes.
The researchers noted that patients with rashes around their anus often continue to use the moist toilet paper with the belief that the cleansing will help heal the lesions and not make the correlation that it is the moist toilet paper that is causing the rash.
It is unclear how many people are allergic to MCI, but among those referred to specialists for suspected allergies, about 3% react to MCI.
Archives of Dermatology, online June 21, 2010.
Courtesy or Reuters
First published June 2010
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