I have recently experienced a tremendous amount of patchy hair loss and over all thinning. Received a diagnosis of alopecia areata and I accepted that diagnosis until one week later a co-worker revealed her hair loss also. It was like looking at a mirror image.
She had the same symptoms of tremendous amount of hair thinning, which then turned to small patch of hair loss ,then to large patches of hair loss. The company owner was made aware of the problem and is attempting to resolve the issue by consulting with an industrial medicine specialist. However, in the meantime, not only my co-worker and myself are continuing amazing amount of hair loss, but another co-worker has complained with losing alot of hair (plugging the shower drain). The company owner has reassured us that he has spoken with a specialist and there is no reason for this to be happening — Help !!!!! I can’t convince the dermatologist that I don’t have alopecia areata — yes, I do have the symptoms and the areas are like textbook description and pictures; however, I do not accept that as an explanation for this problem. Any advice as who to see regarding this problem - a specialist - anyone at all. I am desperate. I NEED ANSWERS AND QUICK BEFORE I GO BALD !!!!!!

Doctor Joshua’s Answer:

Occupational hair loss is rare but not entirely unheard of. First it needs to be determined whether a significant epidemic hair loss is indeed occuring. Often, if one person suffers from certain symptoms, the idea may spread and other persons and workmates may pay extra attention to their symptoms, and an epidemic is assumed when there is in fact none. However, if there is objectively documented alopecia in several workers, environmental and workplace factors should be ruled out.

In my searches I found some chemicals that have been reported to cause occupational hair loss:

-chloroprene, an organic compound used in the manufacturing of Neoprene

-boron (borax), used in a wide range of industries - in (from Wikipedia) “detergents and cosmetics, as an ingredient in enamel glazes, glass, pottery, and ceramics, to make buffer solutions in biochemistry, as a fire retardant and anti-fungal compound for fibreglass and cellulose insulation and as an ingredient of Slime, as an insecticide to kill ants and fleas, as a flux in metallurgy, and as a precursor for sodium perborate monohydrate that is used in detergents, as well as for boric acid and other borates.”

-thallium (coal burning, smelting, METALLURGY: Alloy production; MANUFACTURING: Rodenticides, Electronic components, Optical lenses, Costume jewelry)

In a paper by Roselino and colleagues (1996), they report that acrylamide-like substance was associated with hair loss in 7 workers in in a paper factory in the water effluent treatment sector.

Reference:
Int J Dermatol. 1996 Mar;35(3):181-4. Links
Clinical-epidemiologic study of alopecia areata.
Roselino AM, Almeida AM, Hippolito MA, Cerqueira BC, Maffei CM, Menezes JB,Vieira RE, Assis SL, Ali SA.