Grant: Meetings, Planning and Dissemination Grant: Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis

Every day, at work and home, people have skin exposure to chemicals that can lead to skin disease in varying forms. Experts in skin exposure study the basic science of skin permeability, animal models of uptake and effect, case studies, clinical epidemiology, population health and prevention. The Occupational and Environmental Exposures of Skin to Chemicals (OEESC) Conference has become the premier forum for presenting new research on the current challenges in the measurement and prevention of occupational and environmental skin exposures. Four previous OEESC meetings have been held and we are proud to be hosting the fifth OEESC meeting on June 5-8, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In the decade since the inaugural OEESC, significant progress has been made with regards to knowledge and awareness of skin exposures and diseases. The OEESC conferences have directly led to knowledge exchange and collaborations that would not otherwise occurred. The OEESC meetings are unique because they bring together experts in skin exposure assessment, clinical dermatology, occupational medicine and toxicology with policy-makers as well as health, safety and environment professionals. There is no other venue where this varied group of professionals is able to come together and share research results as well as discuss future directions. This year's meeting is organized around four major themes: Defining the problem, health effects, burden of disease, causation & outcomes; From the outside in: penetration, uptake and metabolism of skin exposures and their modifying factors; Exposure assessment: models, measurements and monitoring; and, Prevention of occupational & environmental skin disease. The final session of the meeting will summarize the research priorities for future skin exposure research. This summary and consensus research priorities will be then be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.