'Euro coins could cause skin disease'

Reuters, Stockholm

Two of the eight euro coins due to come into circulation in January release so much nickel that people allergic to the metal could develop hand eczema, according to a study obtained by Reuters on Friday.

Just five minutes of contact with one-euro (88 U.S. cents) and two-euro coins containing nickel alloy could trigger symptoms, including skin inflammation or itching, the study by a Swedish dermatologist and British laboratory scientist said.

Earlier studies which tested French, British and Swedish coins containing nickel were also found to have the potential to cause nickel allergies, it said.

Fifteen percent of all women and 2 to 5 percent of men in the industrialized world are prone to nickel allergy.

In the study, two-euro coins were bathed for a week in a solution resembling human sweat to imitate the effects of people handling coins.

The amount of nickel released from the euro coins was up to 30 times above a level regarded by scientists as the concentration threshold for reactivity to a single exposure.

"Contamination of hands with nickel was shown to occur by handling cupro-nickel coins for five minutes," the study said.

Cupro-nickel is an alloy containing copper and nickel.

The study, published earlier this year in the journal Contact Dermatitis, was written by dermatologist Carola Liden at Sweden's Karolinska Institute and Stephen Carter of Britain's Laboratory of the Government Chemist in Middlesex.

"Whilst ordinary consumers handle coins infrequently for short periods of time, many shop assistants and cashiers in shops, banks and post offices handle coins during large parts of their workday," it said.

Between 30 and 40 percent of nickel-sensitive people tended to develop hand eczema, an inflammation of the skin which could lead to sick leave or change of jobs.

EU scientists, environmentalists, dermatologists and the nickel industry considered nickel allergy potential when the composition of the euro coins were decided, the study said.

Coins are exempt from the EU's nickel directive, which limits the amount of nickel in products such as jewellery or watches that come into direct contact with the skin.