News

"I am allergic to wool" is a sentence heard too often by the wool industry from consumers. Wool unfortunately has a reputation as an allergen especially in some key countries such as China. This reputation is a barrier and affects the industry’s ability to develop markets for the next-to-skin products and obtain ethics approval to conduct research such as infant sleep studies.

To address this barrier, Dr. Paul Swan of AWI- the Woolmark Company, has looked into already published and unpublished research to evaluate the scientific basis of the reputation of wool as an allergen. His analysis shows that instances of individuals demonstrating allergic skin or respiratory conditions arising from contact with wool are described as ‘extremely rare’ or ‘uncommon’ in the key studies. Most examples of skin irritation arising from wool contact appear due to mechanical stimulation of nerve sensors in the non-glabrous skin due to presence of unsuitably coarse fibres.

These positive research results will be important for several stakeholder engagement activities within certain product groups such as sleep wear or maternity and children’s wear but also important to engage with our stakeholders, such as the EU, or the dermatology community.