Construction workers in India have been found to have significantly increased chances of developing skin diseases, irritations or allergies when they work with cement.
A new study conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) along with Sweden’s Lund University found that major concentrations of chemicals like hexavalent chromium in cement can leads to skin problems like dermatitis, eczema, rashes and burning sensation, among others.
According to the study, workers who have been exposed to cement may suffer skin reactions like cement burns, toxic paronychia, subungual necrosis, folliculitis and petechiae.
Surprisingly it is not only a worker’s hands that can be affected. Due to dry cement blowing in the wind the study found that irritations or infections can present anywhere on the body, and generally did so about seven months after an employee begins to work with the substance.
