Specific IgE antibodies to reactive dye-albumin conjugates

•Hypersensitivity to reactive dye powders has been recognised for a number of years, although the extent of sensitisation amongst dye house operatives and the immunochemistry of the dye molecules has not been investigated. We have developed a radioallergosorbent test (RAST) to detect specific IgE to reactive dye-human serum albumin (HSA) conjugates. From a total of 19 dye-HSA conjugates, positive RASTs were found in six workers with allergic symptoms associated with dye exposure, while six asymptomatic case-matched controls were negative. Sera with raised total IgE (up to 4300 kU/l) from unexposed workers gave negative results except for two conjugates which gave a weak positive at 4300 kU/l and one which gave weak positives at all concentrations tested (750–4300 kU/l). RAST inhibition studies demonstrated that the antibody was specific for the complete dye-HSA conjugate. Substitution of bovine serum albumin (BSA) for HSA in the conjugate markedly reduced immunoreactivity and free hapten gave lower inhibition than the complete conjugate.•Comparison of the dye-HSA RAST with a RAST using dyed discs showed that the latter did not correlate well with symptoms and was influenced by the total IgE concentration.