Bikini textile contact dermatitis: A Sherlockian approach revealing 2,4-dichlorophenol as a potential textile contact allergen.

BACKGROUND: Different textile constituents may act as allergens and/or irritants and provoke textile contact dermatitis (TCD). OBJECTIVES: To report a case of TCD caused by ethylene glycol monododecyl ether and 2,4-dichlorophenol, present in a bikini. METHODS: A woman presented with an eczematous, pruritic rash in the area of the bikini straps and back. Patch testing was performed with the European baseline, textile, sunscreen, and photo-patch series, the bikini "as is", and ethanol and acetone extracts of the bikini. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) of the extracts and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis were used to elucidate the culprit agents. RESULTS: Positive reactions were found to the bikini "as is" and to the ethanol and acetone extracts. Patch testing with TLC strips showed a strong reaction to spots-fractions 3 and 4. GC-MS was performed to identify substances in each fraction and those suspected to be skin sensitisers were patch tested. On day (D) 4 positive reactions to ethylene glycol monododecyl ether (irritant reaction) and 2,4-dichlorophenol (++) were observed. CONCLUSION: A myriad of chemical compounds can be found in clothing. Ethylene glycol monododecyl ether and 2,4-dichlorophenol were identified as the potential culprits of this bikini TCD.

Alcohol ethoxylate degradation of activated sludge is enhanced by bioaugmentation with Pseudomonas sp. LZ-B.

An effective bioaugmentation strategy was developed for the removal of alcohol ethoxylates (AEs) from municipal wastewater. An AE-degrading strain, Pseudomonas sp. LZ-B, was isolated from an activated sludge. Strain LZ-B was able to degrade 96.8% of 200 mg/L C12E4 (Brij 30) within 24 h and showed significant biomass increase and removal of total oxygen concentration (TOC). The optimal degradation temperature and pH value were 37 °C and 6.0, respectively. The strain demonstrated greater potential to degrade five different molecular weight AEs within 5 days. HPLC-MS/MS analysis demonstrated that the major metabolites obtained were polyethylene glycol (PEG) and carboxylated AE chains. Activated sludge has a low ability to remove AEs. After inoculation of strain LZ-B into the activated sludge reactor, Strain LZ-B successfully colonized the activated sludge, and AE removal efficiency increased to more than 95% when the hydraulic retention time (HRT) was 10 h. After strain LZ-B cleaved the AE chains, the sludge microbial communities easily removed PEG fragments to facilitate complete biodegradation of AEs. This is the first report describing bioaugmentation to increase AE degradation in an activated sludge system.