Onycholysis in fur workers.

Abstract

Onycholysis, generally considered an uncommon disease of the finger nails, was found with a high degree of frequency in fur fleshers in the course of a study of the fur industry recently completed by the Division of Industrial Hygiene of the New York State Department of Labor. This finding is believed to be of sufficient interest to warrant a separate report. A review of the literature reveals that a number of cases of onycholysis have been reported from time to time; and in some of these the patient's occupational exposure was regarded as a causative factor. Harris, 1 in a report of a study of fur workers, said that "the nails of dyers frequently showed considerable separation from the matrix, and were thick and ridged." In their recent textbook on occupational diseases of the skin, Schwartz and Tulipan 2 wrote, "During the busy season fleshers have their finger nails worn