Nickel and cobalt release from earrings and piercing jewellery - analytical results of a German survey in 2014.

BACKGROUND: Nickel and cobalt are important metal allergens, and more knowledge on the levels of exposure to these from everyday contacts is needed. OBJECTIVES: To report the results of a repeat routine surveillance scheme in the Federal Republic of Germany on the release of nickel and cobalt. METHODS: Fifteen laboratories assessed earrings and piercing jewellery items from 12 of the states in 2014, complying with EN 1811:2011 + AC:2012 and using atomic absorption spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry for quantification. Kaplan-Meier analysis for left-censored data was employed to account for measurements below the limit of quantification. RESULTS: Nickel release exceeded 0.35 µg/cm2 per week in 26 of 160 piercing posts (16.2%), and 0.88 µg/cm2 per week in 2.0-5.9% of other parts, that is, the current respective 'pass' thresholds, with no change from the previous 2008 survey. The level of cobalt release was lower than that of nickel release, and also significantly lower than in the previous survey. CONCLUSIONS: The finding of the highest level of nickel release from piercing posts, with their deliberately lower threshold of acceptability, is worrying, as is the largely unchanged overall level of nickel release. A regulation on cobalt release is currently lacking; risk assessment and management based on dose-elicitation data are needed.

Cobalt release from earrings and piercing jewellery - analytical results of a German survey.

BACKGROUND: Contact sensitization to cobalt is common. Some industrial exposures have been identified, but cobalt allergy is also often diagnosed in 'non-occupational' patients. Exposure of consumers is largely unexplained. OBJECTIVE: To present the analytical results on cobalt release from earrings and piercing jewellery sampled in a German Federal surveillance scheme. METHODS: Two German state laboratories analysed cobalt release, after immersion in artificial sweat according to EN 1811, along with nickel release in 87 pieces of jewellery, which were mostly taken apart for separate examination of piercing posts (n = 139), clasps (n = 51), and/or decorative items (n = 52). The distribution of cobalt release was described by the use of Kaplan-Meier analysis, taking into account that the majority of measurements were left-censored, that is, below the limit of quantification. RESULTS: Thirty-eight of 87 earrings and piercing jewellery items had at least one part releasing cobalt. The median cobalt release was estimated as 0.013 µg/cm(2) /week, and 75% of parts released up to 0.085 µg/cm(2) /week. Release varied somewhat between the three parts, with, for example, 22.1% of posts releasing ≥ 0.2 µg/cm(2) /week. CONCLUSIONS: Cobalt release from earrings and piercing jewellery, in particular from piercing posts, is considerable. Scientifically based exposure limits should be set, as in the case of nickel.

Nickel allergy is still frequent in young German females - probably because of insufficient protection from nickel-releasing objects.

BACKGROUND: Nickel contact allergy is still frequent both in patch-tested patients and in the general population. Objectives. To explain this observation by relating clinical epidemiological data with recent chemical analyses of nickel release from costume jewellery. METHODS: (i) The trend of nickel allergy was analysed using data registered between January 1994 and December 2009 in the Information Network of Departments of Dermatology. (ii) In 2008, different parts of items of costume jewellery purchased at random on the German market (n = 609) were analysed for nickel release according to EN 1811:1998 + A1:2008 in five official German laboratories of food and non-food INVESTIGATION. RESULTS: (i) Between 1994 and 2009, nickel allergy decreased in men (18-30 years) and in women (1-17 and 18-30 years); however, after 2000, there was no significant decrease in nickel allergy in the women aged 1-17 years. (ii) Of the post-assemblies, 28.0% exceeded the migration limit of ≥0.2 µg/cm(2) per week, and 5% released ≥26.8 µg/cm(2) per week. In articles with direct and prolonged contact with the skin, 12.8% of decorative parts and 17.1% of clasps exceeded the migration limit. If an adjustment factor was applied, according to the above norm, about half of the items otherwise rejected became acceptable. CONCLUSION: Exposure to nickel-containing products exceeding the (unnecessarily relaxed) permitted limit may explain why nickel contact allergy remains a problem.