Course Overview

Many TCM clinic practitioners may be unaware of the number of common usage products containing Methyl-Iso-Thiazolinone (MIT).

The use of MIT as a chemical water preservative since 2001 is out-of-control. It has been allowed to reach the absurdly high concentration of 100 parts per million (ppm) even after it’s mother product CMIT:MIT, with its much lower proportion of 15 ppm MIT, showed disturbingly high rates of Skin and Lung Allergies in exposed consumers.

MIT is out-of-control because it is in so many product categories. In 2001, MIT started as an industrial preservative in Paint. Unfortunately Allergy reports were ignored and MIT was then introduced to Cosmetics and Personal products in 2005. This was a disaster considering that Cosmetics and products such as Sunscreen, are LEAVE-ON products, absorbed directly into the Skin!

MIT is out-of-control because industry regulation is lacking. Paint manufacturers are allowed to ‘self-regulate’ the amount of MIT added to their Paints, with the result that exposure to Paint fumes accounts for 50% of all MIT-based Contact Dermatitis cases.

MIT is out-of-control because the medical screening test, the Patch Test, is applied to CMIT:MIT only, and not to MIT alone, leading to misdiagnosis. The main treatment for Allergic reactions - trigger avoidance – is impossible if patients have not been medically diagnosed properly. There needs to be a lot more public education about MIT so that people can select safer product substitutes.


PLEASE NOTE: While this course does cover safety-related topics, it is not accredited by NCCAOM under the "Safety Category", but rather the "AOM-BIO" category.

Promo Video

Course Objectives

• Identify the large array of common usage products containing the highly Allergenic MIT preservative.
• Learn the aetiology of this Lung and Skin Allergen.
• Be informed of the concentration threshold changes to MIT, with reference to industry regulation since its release.
• Examine the management of this Delayed-type Hypersensitivity to obtain a protocol for product substitution and Allergen avoidance.

Course Outline

0 hrs - 15 minThere is a need for TCM practitioners to identify MIT Preservative in terms of the high Allergic potential arising from common usage products.

15 min - 30 minPractitioners need to understand the potential for both Lung injury and Skin Injury from this Preservative Allergen.

30 min - 45 minThe chronology of changes to MIT products highlights the inadequacy of industry regulation during the years of marketing.

45 min - 1 hrsAnecdotal evidence helps to illustrate the aetiology of this T-Cell mediated Hypersensitivity, and to analyse the screening test and potential treatments.