Abstract
Reroofing is an increasing large percentage of the roofing market. Therefore, roofers are exposed to materials used with today’s technology as well as materials in the past. Commercial roofers have a greater amount of occupational skin disease compared to residential roofers. The most common skin disorder is “tar smarts,” a phototoxic reaction from exposure to pitch. Type III bitumen, found in most coal tar pitch today, has less irritants reducing the incidence of “tar smarts.” Other common cutaneous findings include chemical burns, allergic and irritant contact dermatitis, folliculitis/pitch acne, and precancerous and cancerous lesions.
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Ho-Pham, H.N., Maibach, H.I. (2020). Roofers. In: John, S., Johansen, J., Rustemeyer, T., Elsner, P., Maibach, H. (eds) Kanerva’s Occupational Dermatology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68617-2_188
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68617-2_188
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