Michael Dresser, 60, a veteran reporter of The Baltimore Sun, found out that he has newspaper ink allergy. He considered his condition ironic as he had been in the business for 38 years, and it could have almost killed him.
Dresser decided to see a doctor after persistent eye and skin problems. The doctors couldn't find a cause, so they decided to have him do a patch test.
"I'd wake up in the morning with my eyes swollen to the point where I couldn't see through the slits," Dresser told ABC News. "It's really uncomfortable and itchy, my eyes get very watery."
The patch test revealed that he had allergy to pine resin-a chemical secreted from the trunks or broken limbs of pine trees used on newspapers.
The doctor advised him to start wearing rubber gloves to avoid the cause of his allergy. He also needed to stop wearing dark-colored clothes as he had allergy on clothing dye too. Lastly, the doctor told him to start reading online news instead of prints to avoid exposure to resin.
Dresser released a staff memo for laughs and to avoid explaining himself for wearing rubber gloves at work. Here is an excerpt of the memo published in a Wall Street Journal blog:
I though this deserved a headline.
The next time you see me in the newsroom, you may see me wearing the type of rubber gloves used by a doctor or a crime scene technician. Don't worry, I won't be administering any uncomfortable examinations or looking for blood spatter. It's just that I found out this week after nearly 38 years at The Sun that I am allergic to newspaper ink.
Seriously. Any sympathy is appreciated, but feel free to laugh. The irony is not lost on me.
Resin allergy is a hypersensitivity to newspaper ink that usually develops one to three days after contact. Only those areas affected would show inflammation or redness, but it could also cause eye problems if the hands were rubbed to it. Newspaper allergy is not a rare condition; in fact, it is one of the top five causes of allergic contact dermatitis according to the Handbook of Occupational Dermatology.
