The case of a man with dermatitis of the hands and arms definitely aggravated by electrostatic sparking while driving an automobile is here reported. I do not agree with the patient that it is the sole cause of his condition, but I do believe that it was a major contributory irritant. Davis and Moursund1 reported measurable but widely variable electrostatic charges on the skin of patients, particularly those with dry-skin dermatoses. They felt, after preliminary investigation, that grounding these patients proved helpful in relieving the pruritus.
The patient reported here volunteered his own diagnosis with no suggestion on my part. I had asked him if he was sensitive to the seat covers in his car. An observant man, he noticed that he was worse and had more itching on the days he drove his car a good deal. He also noticed a marked amount of static