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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2002;288:1708.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

As people with nickel allergy know, prolonged contact with this metal can cause the itchy rash characteristic of allergic contact dermatitis. Because this is a common allergy, the amount of nickel in coins, including the euro coins introduced last January, is regulated to prevent a problem in nickel-sensitive individuals.

Now, however, researchers in Zurich, Switzerland, have found that because of a design flaw, 1-euro and 2-euro coins can generate an electrical current that causes them to release amounts of nickel that vastly exceed the quantity allowed. When the investigators taped the coins to the skin of seven people with nickel-contact allergy, all seven developed rashes in 48 hours (Nature. 2002;419:132).

After being partly immersed for 36 hours in artificial sweat, a 1-euro coin (left) corrodes and releases irritating nickel. A Swiss franc (right), which has a similar nickel content, is unaffected. (Courtesy of Dermatology Clinic, . . . [Full Text of this Article]