This photo is from 2015 and therefore gives a somewhat flattering impression of my current appearance
Welcome!
Welcome to the website of Anton de Groot, in daily life for family and friends 'Ton'. I was born in Deventer (1951), studied medicine in Groningen and also trained as a dermatologist there. In 1980 I started a practice as a dermatologist in the Carolus Hospital and the Willem-Alexander Hospital in 's-Hertogenbosch. Eight years later I obtained my PhD degree in Groningen on the subject of Adverse reactions to cosmetics. To this day, cosmetic allergy and contact allergy in general remain my favorite scientific topics, but I have also published on a large variety of other subjects in dermatology. If possible, I would like to continue doing that that for a while. I am currently writing review articles on contact allergy to modern (met)acrylate-containing nail cosmetics and their main allergen hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA).
In addition, I have engaged in various other activities. For example, I was co-founder of the Dutch Journal for Dermatology and Venereology and was also its editor-in-chief for 10 years. I also contributed to the creation of EU legislation on the listing of
all ingredients on cosmetic products (ingredient labelling). I would like to tell you some more about my former practice, my scientific work and my other activities. Why? There are several reasons for it.
To be completely honest: a certain degree of vanity is not strange to me and that plays a part. A person naturally wants to show what he or she has achieved and what he/she is proud of - and I am only human. There is also a piece of history in it or at least a sketch of an era, for example about the training as a dermatologist in Groningen in the 1970s and 1980s, how we worked in practice in the pre-computer era and how - and hardly anyone knows that - legislation regarding ingredient labelling was created in the European Union.
In addition, something else comes into play. I sometimes look up the names of former classmates, fellow students, GPs I used to work with or colleagues from my hospital, and I can't find
Ingredient labelling: the ingredients of the cosmetic product must be stated on the product, its packaging or a separate label
anything at all about many of them. In this way I prefer not to go into anonymity for the time being; this is a third reason for this website. Of course there are also Facebook, LinkedIn and probably even more possibilities, but those platforms are not suitable for what I want to show you here. And a fourth reason is that I hope that the website will put me in touch with friends and acquaintances from the past. A possible problem is that anyone who wants to find me will search for 'Ton de Groot', because people know me by that name; the name Anton de Groot has gradually crept into the scientific circuit. I have to come up with something for that. Maybe one of you can tell me how best to do that!
Do not think that what I am showing here is a boring summary of my publications, scientific work and other activities. The website contains a large number of images, photos, anecdotes, and cartoons. For example, I show you beautiful clinical photos of common skin diseases and also of allergic contact eczema (caused by contact allergy, my favorite subject) with some explanation. The vast majority come from the collection of dr. Johan Toonstra, some I received from prof. dr. Derk Bruynzeel; I thank both very much. I also found recordings of radio interviews from 30 years ago that you can listen to (if you understand Dutch, that is). You will notice that back then everyone talked much more slowly than the younger people do today. Finally, I show some of my non-scientific, but humorous (and - admittedly - often somewhat cynical) letters to the newspapers.
In the 1980s, the computer gradually made its appearance. As anyone who had a PC at the time can remember, things always went wrong, be it with the hardware, the software, or dialing up the phone line (yes, that's how we connected to the internet). As can be seen on the left, sometimes something went wrong with the memory of the computer. And for those who think that computers are expensive these days: the IBM XT that I purchased in 1984 with a printer and some software programs cost (converted from guilders) more than 8000 euros!
Well then, now I would like to invite you to take a look at my website and read about my practice and scientific adventures over the past 47 years. It is best to watch on a large screen, so preferably on a PC or laptop, but it will also work with a tablet.
To get in the mood I suggest you start with INTRO and go from there. I like the story about my dermatology training most and my encounter with the Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) in the US the most exciting. The saga about my research into and publications about Kathon CG, which led to a reprimand from an American law firm and - uniquely - resulted in being scolded in public in the Jaarbeurshallen in Utrecht, is also more than worth reading. Should you get lost in the pages and many sub (and sub sub) pages: the Sitemap at the bottom of each page shows you everything clearly.
I would love it if you sent a comment after your visit to antondegroot@planet.nl ! Suggestions for improvements, additions or corrections are very welcome. And if, for whatever reason, you are disturbed or offended by something on this website, I would like to apologize for that.