Children With Aluminium Contact Allergy: Oral Exposure Study

Parents of aluminium allergic children have reported that children may react with increased itching of their granulomas, skin symptoms in the form of redness, itching and rash, as well as symptoms such as headache, abdominal pain and agitation, by ingesting aluminium-containing foods.

Children are predominantly exposed to aluminium via the diet as they do not yet use aluminium-containing cosmetic products, stomach acid medicines or deodorants. The amount of aluminium in children's diet varies between 0.22-0.90 mg/kg body weight/week, depending on their age. In older children and adults, the intake is less related to the aluminium in infant formula, breakfast cereals and dried fruit, which is consumed more by children than adults.

With this study, we want to create an exposure study where children have to eat pancakes for a limited period of time, where aluminium has been used as baking soda, and for two control periods eat pancakes without aluminium.

Any symptoms occurring during periods could be used to investigate whether children with aluminium allergies generally react after intake of aluminium-containing foods and whether as such it is a consequential condition in some children or whether it is isolated cases. It is a very important issue to clarify with a view to proper advice, both with regard to the possible avoidance of specific foods and in the case of future vaccinations.

Inclusion criteria

• Children with contact allergies to aluminium, demonstrated by patch tests
• Activity (itching) of the granulom within the last six months
• Written consent obtained from all custodians

Exclusion criteria

• a detected food allergy for the remaining products in the pancakes (including wheat flour, eggs and milk)
• Children treated with topical and/or systemic steroid preparations during and up to 1 week before the start of the study.
• Children treated with systemic immune suppression during and up to 1 week before the start of the study.
• Children with kidney or bone disease.
• Children vaccinated during the study period
• Treatment with acid neutralising medicines during and up to 1 week before the start of the study
• Another reason for inability to cooperate, including lack of language skills in Danish or English in parents.