A search of the literature reveals no report of contact dermatitis due to walnut juice; this, in spite of the fact that large numbers of people contact black walnut hulls during the walnut picking season, and the juice of black walnuts has been used for centuries for covering depigmented areas of vitiligo and scars. The Depelle Company of San Francisco,* one of the few remaining pharmaceutical houses manufacturing walnut juice for medical purposes, reported no sensitizing or irritating properties from their brand of natural walnut juice. Schwartz1 reported five cases of contact dermatitis due to walnut wood, but the condition occurred in workmen in a cabinet-making plant handling Brazilian walnut wood. Schwartz † stated he never saw any irritation due to the juice of the ordinary black walnut (Juglans nigra).
For these reasons, it was felt the following case was worthy of reporting.
REPORT OF A CASE