Irritant contact dermatitis is a very common disease that is preventable by protective measures. The development of screening methods to identify subjects with increased susceptibility to irritants is essential to reduce the incidence of this disorder in the workplace. On the outlook for such methods, 2 quick non-invasive tests for irritability of the skin were compared to reliable, but time-consuming, patch testing with sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). In 20 healthy volunteers, 0.5% SLS was applied on the medial 1.3 of the forearm for 23 h in order to induce experimental irritant contact dermatitis. On the same part of the forearm, 3 concentrations of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and a solution of 0.2 mol/l NaOH were applied for 5 min. Assessment of skin irritability was made by visual scoring and measurement of transepidermal water loss. No correlation between the "quick tests" and SLS patch testing was found, indicating that these tests assess different mechanisms of irritation.