Acne is an inflammatory disorder of the sebaceous glands. The skin eruptions from acne may be mild, involving exposed areas of the body, or severe covering of all the body. Occupational acne includes oil acne, coal-tar acne, and chloracne. Others types are related to cosmetics, heat/cold and mechanical forces.
The incidence of oil acne has declined in recent years because of decreased use of neat cutting oils. Better performing oils and improved health and safety standards in the workplace helped this decline further. The eruptions resulting from oil acne are called oil boils. When the exposure is prolonged, skin cancer, such as cancer of the scrotum, may develop. Oil acne amongst oil workers is rare because there are fewer opportunities for prolonged contact with crude oil or the heavier oil fractions.
Chloracne results from exposure to certain halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (eg polychlorinated biphenyles (PCBc)). Individual lesions of chloracne consist primarily of blackheads, whiteheads and cysts. Choracne occurs mainly on exposed areas of the skin, but following regular exposure, lesions may appear in other regions especially the genital, groin and axillae areas of the body. Chloracne usually begins several weeks or months after the exposure and new lesions may appear even when exposure stops, because there may still be traces of the contaminants in the follicular areas of the skin.
Coal-tar acne is associated with coal tar-based products and may be aggravated by light/UV. Skin and eyes are vulnerable and it will cause increased pigmentation as well as acne-related symptoms (eg skin eruptions, blackheads).
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