Why Do I get a Reaction to Gold Jewellery?

If an item is say, 18Kt gold that means 18 parts out of 24 must be pure gold (about 75%) the remaining 25% are other metals that are added to colour the item or improve its properties like hardness or malleability.

Gold is a pure metal and you won't be allergic to gold - what you might be allergic to are the other compounds which are added to the gold.  The lower the karat of gold the greater is the amount of other metals that are added.  The likely culprit of your allergy is nickel.

Nickel Allergy

Nickel is a metal often present in jewellery components.  The most common harmful health effect of nickel in humans is an allergic reaction to nickel.

Approximately 12-15% of the population is sensitive to nickel.  This percentage has been slowly on the rise like as result of the popularity of body piercing.

Actually, it is the nickel salts formed when the metal comes in contact with perspiration that cause the allergy.  A person can become sensitive to nickel when jewellery or other things containing nickel are in direct contact with the skin.

Piecing and wearing earrings containing nickel in pierced ears may also sensitize a person to nickel.  No one is born with sensitivity to nickel it is developed and once an allergy to nickel has been acquired, it is usually lifelong.  

Treatment

There is no pill or drug to treat the condition - you just need to keep nickel out of your life.  Once a person is sensitized to nickel, further contact with the metal will produce a toxic reaction from uncomfortable to severe.

Symptoms of Nickel Sensitivity

People who are sensitive to nickel have reactions when nickel comes into contact with the skin.  Symptoms range from slight itching and redness of the skin to severe blisters at the area of contact.

The most common reaction is a skin rash at the site of contact.  In some sensitized people, dermatitis (a type of skin rash) may develop in an area of the skin that is away from the site of contact.

For example, hand eczema (another type of skin rash) is fairly common among people sensitized to nickel specially those handling coinage.  Less frequently, some people who are sensitive to nickel have asthma attacks following exposure to nickel.

More women are sensitive to nickel than men.  This difference between men and women is thought to be a result of greater exposure of women to nickel through jewellery and other metal items.

This problem is so prevalent that in January 2000, the European Union imposed a nickel ban on all jewellery sold there.  The European nickel free standard states that, items labelled "nickel free" may contain no more than 0.05% nickel (only 1 part in 2000 can be nickel).  There is no such ban in North America.

Surgical Steel

Surgical steel, often used in earring wires and advertised as hypoallergenic, is NOT nickel free, it usually contains 8% nickel.

People with a slight nickel allergy may tolerate surgical steel earrings for only a few hours or maybe even all day.  But they may be so sensitive that even the buttons of their jeans cannot touch their skin.  Why chance it?  Unless specifically stated 100% nickel free stay away from surgical steel.

Recommendations

If you are allergic to nickel we suggest:

• consult with your dermatologist

• avoid costume jewellery and steel posts, wear jewellery that is guaranteed to be 100% nickel free

• avoid white gold jewellery as the whitening agent added to the gold is usually nickel (for a further discussion of white gold issues and its alloys click here)

• raise the karat of gold in your jewellery to 18Kt
  wear platinum

• rhodium-plating of jewellery should provide some limited protection, but remember electroplating will, in time, wear away.

JK Schmidt Jewellery is now carrying products made with a new alloy introduced in the fall of 2005 called Pure White™  an 18kt white gold, that is 100% nickel free comprised of gold and palladium, one of the platinum group metals.