I have worked in the same chem lab for about 2 years now. I started noticing itchy skin and other "allergic" symptoms about a year ago; I attributed it to weather/new surroundings/etc. I switched from latex gloves to nirtile, which did help with the hands. My lab is primarily peptide synthesis - using MBHA resin, Boc-amino acids, DMF/DCM. After this past Christmas break my "symptoms" cleared up due to 2 weeks vacation and 2 weeks of downtime - since we moved to a new building. Chemistry has started up again, and voila my red, itchy skin has returned... So I guess my question is - has anyone else heard of/experienced this sort of thing? what can I do? do any of the common chemicals I mentioned tend to elicit this type of response? It makes working in the lab very uncomfortable even though I love my work.
