Sensitization to para-phenylenediamine from a streetside temporary tattoo.

"Temporary" henna tattoos (skin painting or pseudotattooing) are in vogue among American and European youngsters, particularly when vacationing. A 17-year-old girl presented with a severe contact dermatitis of her scalp and face after having dyed her hair with a permanent oxidative hair dye. She denied previous use of oxidative hair dye.

[Role of cosmetics in environmental carcinogenesis].

Unlabelled: Cosmetics, which have been used for millenaries, have undergone a dramatic development since the last war. Conjointly with this development, cosmetology has entered a new, scientific, phase. A few facts will enable us to define the role of carcinogens in environmental carcinogenesis: first, by trying to determine what protection is given to the consumer against the carcinogenic risk; then, by delineating the protection provided by sunscreen agents against skin carcinomas induced by sun.

[Lung injury after use of respiratory revival materials sterilized with ethylene oxide].

One of the most used method of medical appliances sterilization uses ethylene oxide. At high concentration, this very reactive product, causes caustic burns of skin and mucous membranes. In one case of acute pulmonary oedema, levels of ethylene oxide in the endotracheal catheter were discovered.

[Acute poisoning by viloxazine chlorhydrate taken by itself].

One of the missions of the Poison Control Centres is to collect an important number of cases concerning a substance in order to determine its toxicological pattern for man. Such data were collected for Viloxazine chlorhydrate, an antidepressant belonging to a new chemical, ingested without association with other drugs, at doses varying from 100 mg to 4 g. The toxicological action of this drug was moderate, as no death occurred in the cases under study.

[Subcutaneous injection of metallic mercury. Report of 4 cases].

4 cases of subcutaneous injection of metallic mercury are reported and compared with those recorded by others. Subcutaneous injection always causes local inflammatory reaction and granuloma formation. Systematic mercury absorption is the rule as it is proved by high mercury levels in blood and urine.

[Acute paracetamol poisoning. A retrospective study of data from the Paris Antipoison Center. 1974-1981 (author's transl)].

Seventy-five cases of acute poisoning with effervescent tablets of paracetamol have been recorded. No patients developed hepatitis. Ingested doses were low, and resulted only in minor manifestations.