How Do Soaps Trigger (Skin) Allergies?

Filed in archive Skin Allergies on June 14, 2007

The hygiene hypothesis used to explain the increasing prevalence of allergies is based on the belief that being too clean, which includes the use of too much detergents, soaps, etc, increases an individual's chances of developing allergies. But how?

Ina new study published at the journal Trends in Immunology, researchers believe that these products strip away a protective layer of skin.

The UCL team has also shown that if the outer protective layer of skin is stripped away - using something as simple as sellotape - allergy-causing particles are able to penetrate the skin.

They are then taken up by specialised cells called Langerhans cells, which are found in a layer of the skin called the epidermis.

The Langerhans cells then move from the skin to the local lymph nodes of the immune system, and induce an allergic response.

Read more from BBC News.