ArticleContact dermatitis2025
Sodium Benzoate as an Emerging but Problematic Allergen: Retrospective Analysis of Patch Test Results in 3198 Cases Underlines the Need for an Improved Test Preparation, as Even Dubious Reactions May Be Clinically Relevant.
Article in Contact dermatitis, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Long-Term Risk of Allergic Contact Dermatitis in Children With Atopic Respiratory Disease When They Reach Adulthood.Contact dermatitis · 2026Article
- Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone 10 Years After Regulation: A Case Story of Liquid Soaps and Shampoos.Contact dermatitis · 2026Article
- Fragrance and Preservative Contact Allergens in Cosmetic and Household Cleaning Products in Turkey: Variation by Target Population, Product Type and Manufacturing Origin.Contact dermatitis · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSodium benzoate is increasingly used as a preservative in personal care products and in foods. Recently published experience of patch testing sodium benzoate at 5% in pet shows it to be an allergen that may be assuming increasing clinical relevance.
objectivesWe set out to define the prevalence of clinically relevant reactions to sodium benzoate, to delineate problems with the interpretation of patch test readings to this allergen and to identify whether its inclusion in various series offers additional diagnostic benefit beyond those offered by commonly tested allergens, for example benzoic acid and Myroxylon pereirae , with which it may show some cross reactivity.
methodsFrom 2008 to 2023, 3198 patients were patch tested to 5% sodium benzoate in pet, which has been included in our bakery/cheilitis, fragrance and facial series. Types of reaction, clinical relevance and cross-reactivities were noted.
resultsOf 3198 subjects tested to 5% sodium benzoate in pet, 57 (1.8%) had an allergic positive reaction (+/++), 53 (1.6%) had a doubtful reaction (?+) and 133 (4.1%) had an irritant reaction (IR) - meaning that ?+ or irritant reactions were more than three times more common than allergic responses. Clinical relevance was identified in 67% (38 of 57) of + or ++ reactors to sodium benzoate, and in 36% (19 of 53) of those with doubtful (?+) reactions. Co-reactivity to benzoic acid was seen in 15.4% of cases + or ++ to sodium benzoate. The positivity ratio (the proportion of + reactions compared to ++ and +++) was 96.5% and the reaction index (number of allergic positives compared to ?+ or IR) was -0.53. Both indices indicate a problematic allergen.
conclusionsThis series reaffirms that sodium benzoate is an important allergen which should be included in bakery/cheilitis, fragrance and facial series in addition to benzoic acid and Myroxylon pereirae, with which it occasionally cross-reacts. However, it is tricky to test and its reactions are difficult to interpret-underlining the need to refine the preparation used for patch testing.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.