Does anyone know whether people who are allergic to Nickel would
have the same reaction if it were plated? Sandra
Hi Sandra, One of my very good friends ran a commercial plating
shop. He told me that most of the pot metal, copper, brass, etc
jewelry is nickel plated then plated in gold, silver, rhodium, or
imitation rhodium. People who have the sensitivity still have it
unless the precious metal is very, very thick!
Regards,
Skip
Skip Meister
@Skip_Meister
Hello Sandra, Plating is a tricky thing… there are many
different types of plate.Much of the plated goods sold in the USA
are first copper plated, then nickel plated and then plated with
either gold or rhodium or synthetic rhodium(tin based). the
thickness of the final gold plate is also important… most
costume jewelry that has a "lifetime " guarantee needs to have at
least 50 mils of gold to 100 mils of gold.
Mills is a thickness term used by platers. Nickel will take avery
long time to "bleed " it’s way through an item plated as thick as
100 mils. people may have allergic reactions to items that have
been “flash” gold plated … 7 mils or less… in this case, the
gold wears off quickly and a tiny amount of nickel shows through
and could cause an allergic reaction. A key area for anyone who
wears costume jewelry earrings to watch out for is the earpost.
most posts in costume jewelry are stainlees steel, However, just
before plating the costume jewelry, a tiny rubber sleeve is put
over the post to stop the post from being plated. Many times ,
the persons applying these rubber stoppers don’t put them on all
the way to the bottom of the post. What will happen in this case
is that a tiny area of the stainless post will have copper,
nickel and gold on it. as the gold wears off… the nickel is
exposed directly to the ear and can cause allergic reactions and
possible infections.
In my opinion, nickel plate should only be used on plated pins
and pendants. not on areas that come into continuous contact with
skin. Some platers are now using palladium instead of nickel,
but usually only when the customer specifies nickel free plating.
hope this helps. Dan
Does anyone know whether people who are allergic to Nickel would have the same reaction if it were plated?
Speaking just for myself - yes. Gold or silver plated jewelry
also breaks me out. So does “hypoallergenic” and stainless steel