title: Short and frequent skin contact with nickel.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The existing EU nickel restriction does not sufficiently protect the population from skin exposure to nickel. Better understanding is needed of the extent to which short and frequent contact with nickel-releasing items contributes to nickel deposition on skin.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To quantify nickel skin exposure from short and frequent contact with nickel-releasing materials.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sequences of short contact events were assessed in (i) touch tests for measurement of nickel skin dose, (ii) wipe tests to similarly quantify the nickel release during a touch, and (iii) immersion tests in artificial sweat, for nickel-containing alloys and pure nickel.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nickel skin doses from a single touch were 0.024-4.7 µg/cm(2) for all materials. Touching or wiping five untouched surfaces resulted in more accumulated nickel than five repeated touches of the same surface. The released amounts of nickel were generally lower at immersion, but increased with the number of repeated immersion periods.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nickel skin doses were quantified after one single touch for all study materials. Touch tests, and potentially wipe tests as a proxy for skin dose measurements, are preferred to immersion tests for the assessment of short and frequent skin contact with nickel.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, SE 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Behnaz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Erfani
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, SE 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Carola
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lidén
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, SE 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Klara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Midander
mesh_terms: D017449:Dermatitis, Allergic Contact / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D009532:Nickel / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013542:Sweat
chemical_list: D009532:Nickel
keywords: 316L stainless steel; Monel alloy 400; artificial sweat; copper-nickel; nickel; nickel skin dose; nickel-silver