<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Dear Listmates, I've received many replies about gluten reactions through skin contact or aroma particles. This was not intended for myself, but to help me understand the extent of damaged caused by exposure to gluten. Most of the responses were anecdotal evidence, i.e., personal experiences and hypothoses. Of those, most people said that the smell of bread or using a gluten containing product on their skin caused no reaction. Quotes: As to reactions of smelling bread, I think the mind is a powerful thing and possibly is fooling the body. My husband makes fresh bread for our family 3 or 4 times a week, and I bake cakes, muffins etc. with flour for my family as I am the only Celiac. To date I have NEVER had a reaction to baking bread or flour products. I do enjoy the smell but beyond that there is no reaction. ********************* My husband has DH, but I don't eat wheat. My kids do, tho, and I bake bread for them because then I know what's in the bread. Anyhow, my husband has never had a reaction to the smell in the 5-6 years I've been using my machine. ********************** After investigating this question myself (including quizzing my uncle who is a chemist), I've found that proteins (which include gluten) cannot be absorbed through the skin. Otherwise, all the 40.00 a jar collegen and elastin face cremes would work, rendering us all wrinkle-free. This is aside from allergic reactions on the skin. But, celiac disease isn't a skin allgery! Fact of the matter is, that nature made our skin as a protective covering. If it wasn't, then 2 hours of swimming in a pool would cause you to literally drown in your own body. ************************ My personal opinion about the baking bread would be more of a problem with the yeast......BUT....I am allergic to corn and I get a reaction from corn popping in a microwave or on the stove. So however or whatever is happening with the bread baking I am sure it would only be reasonable to assume a celiac could have a reaction from bread baking or even possibly from a dust of wheat flour being inhaled. ********************** Everything is absorbed through the skin. You should not put anything on your skin that you normally would not ingest. Similarly if you can smell it that means that there are enough molecules of the substance in your nose to trigger a smell reaction so if you are allergic to it you can get a reaction. It merely depends upon how sensitive you are. Some people who are very allergic to peanuts can get a reaction just if someone near them is eating peanuts. Hence the controversy about the use of peanuts on airlines and in schools. I hope that this has been helpful. *********************** I have no personal experience with wheat odors making me ill, but I do have with corn. It is similar to what I experience with ingesting corn, but not identical. I don't know what the mechanism is. My son worked the popcorn stand at school one night and came home smelling pretty strong of the stuff. My nose was plugged up, and as far as I knew, he'd kept score. I couldn't smell it, but it made me sick all the same. ********************** From a scientist: I must say I suspect that the reaction to the smell of bread is in the same category as that of those dogs who salivated when a bell was rung. As a scientist/engineer, I frequently am bereft of words (very unusual for someone like me who suffers from verbal diarrhoea) when I read some of the postings on this list. The problem probably breaks down into several parts:- 1 People with coeliac are prone to other allergies and intolerances and confuse them with coeliac or simply do not differentiate them from it, believing that "it's all coeliac disease". 2 Pavlovian responses. 3 (I don't like this one but the missionary zeal sometimes used leads me to have very strong suspicions with some people) Hysterical Reaction. 4 Severe physical and probably mental stressors "mopping up" more essential micronutrients (vitamins etc) than a coeliac gut can absorb, thus giving some or all of the reactions caused by coeliac disease. And Finally (probably one of the smallest groups) 5 Actual coeliac reactions which have yet to be scientifically described. Incidentally my wife gets a reaction from using shampoo containing wheatgerm. This is a skin reaction NOT a coeliac one and I imagine she has a slight allergic sensitivity to some protein component in wheat as well as the coeliac intolerance. It's interesting that she does not get this response from Codex Alimentarius purified wheat starch. Maybe the response is locked to the skin cells (eg complement reaction). ********************** From a Chemistry Student: Once the gluten has been broken down to amino acids, the toxicity is lost. Amino acids are not a problem. Only the protein itself OR fragments would betoxic to celiacs. Gluten (gliadin) is a certain sequence of amino acids. The toxicity is lost, once you break it down to the building blocks. All proteins consist of the same amino acids. The toxic protein fragments are definitely NOT volatile. It's highly unlikely that enough gluten would enter the body just by the "smell", even for hyper-sensitive celiacs. I don't think gluten has a smell by the way. What you smell are volatile compounds that develop when you bake bread. Airborn wheat flour could be a problem of course. And it's different for allergies. I know people allergic to peanuts can get sick from just the smell of peanuts. I think this means they are sensitive to some volatile compound of peanuts. Gluten is NOT volatile. ************************* And from the other side of the question...those who feel that topical or nasal exposure can cause harm: NOTE: This side contains purely anecdotal evidence. When you detect an odor it is because molecules of the substance have reached the receptors in the nose. Since gluten molecules can be recognised by the body, I would say yes. I know this is pretty eye opening when you think of some of the things you smell on the air. *********************** As far as the odors go, odor is taking in particles. it is kind of gross if you think about it but the molecules do at least get to your nose. at least that is what we learned in biology. I posted on airborne wheat a while ago and if you want the summary I will give it to you. or check the archives. *********************** Everything is absorbed through the skin. You should not put anything on your skin that you normally would not ingest. Similarly if you can smell it that means that there are enough molecules of the substance in your nose to trigger a smell reaction so if you are allergic to it you can get a reaction. It merely depends upon how sensitive you are. Some people who are very allergic to peanuts can get a reaction just if someone near them is eating peanuts. Hence the controversy about the use of peanuts on airlines and in schools. *********************** Again, I thank everyone who responded to my query. BTW: This was asked merely for the purposes of discussion, not for myself. I don't have DH (but I do have CD). I eat millet, canola oil, use wheat germ oil cosmetics, work under the same roof as a bakery, without reaction (so far!) Gwynneth in Boston