Materials and Allergies

Do you experience redness or itching from your new earrings?

Does the metal of the necklace cause irritation on the neck? Does the skin on your finger itch under the ring? Jewelry allergies manifest in surprisingly many ways.

Jewelry allergies are contact allergies, meaning that when the skin comes into contact with an allergy-causing material, an allergic reaction occurs, such as skin irritation, redness, swelling, or itching. Although jewelry allergies often occur in the ears, as the skin around the earring hole is particularly thin, jewelry allergies can also appear in other parts of the body, such as the neck or fingers.

Do this to reduce skin irritation.

1. If any material causes skin irritation, do not use it.
2. Clean your jewelry regularly. Often, skin reactions caused by jewelry are due to the fact that the jewelry has not been kept clean and dirt accumulates on it. This especially applies to earrings and rings, where skin contact is close.
3. Do not wear jewelry around the clock, but let your skin "rest" in between.

Safe jewelry materials that do not cause allergies?

Most people know that jewelry containing nickel should not be worn because it causes allergies.  The EU Nickel Directive from 2001 (and its amendment in 2005) prohibits the sale of jewelry that releases nickel. (Very small quantities may be released, see below for specific amounts). In principle, such jewelry should not be for sale in the EU, but in practice, there are some available.

Fortunately, there are also jewelry materials that do not irritate the skin. However, it is good to understand that the most expensive jewelry is not always the best jewelry in terms of allergies. In practice, it is indeed the case that cheap costume jewelry causes the most sensitivity or outright allergy for the wearer.

There is no straightforward and unambiguous answer to the question of safe jewelry materials, as people are different and may become sensitive to different substances.

You can be inspired by both affordable and more expensive materials.  It is also good to understand that jewelry is usually made from an alloy; for example, gold or silver jewelry is never 100% gold or silver, but contains other materials as well. I have made a list of the most commonly used metals in jewelry and their connection to allergies.

Silver in jewelry

• Noble metal Ag, with a long history: used since 3000 BC. The ancient Egyptians valued silver more highly than gold.
• Silver is an antimicrobial agent. It destroys bacteria and fungi and prevents their reproduction. Silver is used, among other things, in the treatment of burns and wounds. A small amount of silver is enough to sterilize water.
• The silver used in the jewelry is 925 silver (stamp 925). It contains 92.5% silver. The remaining 7.5% is often copper, zinc, or platinum. This final part makes the mixture harder and is essential for the jewelry's sufficient strength. Pure 100% silver is not suitable for making jewelry due to its softness.

SILVER AND ALLERGY

• Silver allergy is very, very uncommon. There are only a few confirmed cases of silver allergies, and they occur in connection with the local treatment of chronic wounds, not with the use of jewelry.
• 925 silver, however, contains 7.5% other substances, namely hardeners. These may cause sensitization in individuals who are predisposed to it. However, in cases where a person may very well wear a silver ring but not, for example, silver earrings, it is hardly a matter of allergy. A true allergy completely prevents the use of the material.  Naturally, silver does not contain nickel, but the metals mentioned above.

Examples of popular silver jewelry from Taika Helsinki. From this link you can access all our silver jewelry.

Gold in jewelry

• Jalometalli Au
• Pure gold (100%) is yellow and even softer than silver, and therefore it is not well suited for jewelry in its raw form. It is called 24 karat gold.
• Jewelry uses gold alloys. This alloy makes the gold jewelry harder and thus more usable. Linking changes the color of gold. As a binding agent, silver, copper, and zinc are used.
• The gold karat number indicates how much pure gold is in the gold.
• The most common gold carat amounts are 18 carats and 14 carats.
  • 18k gold contains 75% pure gold (mark 750)
  • 14 karat gold contains 58.5% pure gold (mark 585)
  • 9 carat gold contains 37.5% pure gold (mark 375)
  • 8 karat gold contains 33.3% pure gold (mark 333)
  • The smaller the carat amount, the more affordable the alloy gold is. It is also good to understand that the smaller the carat amount, the harder the alloy is. Durability is not always directly proportional to lifespan. For example,18k gold is tougher than 14k, so its lifespan may even be longer.
• Yellow gold, white gold, and rose gold.
  • Pure gold is yellow. The amount of carats naturally affects the color of yellow gold.
  • White gold is an alloy in which a bleaching metal has been added to yellow gold. Palladium is often used today. Nickel was also used in the white gold alloy. White gold is not white as its name suggests, but rather gray or yellowish. White gold is often surface-treated with rhodium to achieve a beautiful and even tone and shine. The worn white gold ring may therefore appear slightly yellowish.
  • Rose gold is, as its name suggests, reddish in color. In rose gold, copper has been added to the yellow gold to create a reddish hue.

Rhodium in jewelry

• Rhodium, belongs to the group of platinum metals. Pure rhodium is a light gray, slightly darker than silver. It is tough, and its shine lasts.
• It is used in the surface treatment of white gold and silver. Then it is said that the jewelry is rhodium-plated. Rhodium gives a beautiful, shiny surface to the finish. Rhodium also prevents the jewelry from tarnishing.

RHODIUM AND ALLERGY:

• Rhodium is considered a safe material. Does not cause allergies.

Platinum in jewelry

• Noble Metal Pt
• The Ecuadorian Indians used platinum even before Columbus's voyages (in the late 1400s). European explorers discovered it in the mid-1700s. V. Platinum was "officially discovered" in 1748 when the Spanish de Ulloa wrote a scientific report about it.
• Platinum is silver-gray. The platinum stamps are indicated in parts per thousand. In Finland, sold platinum is always at least 950 parts per thousand in purity (mark 950). The remaining 5% is usually copper.
• Platinum is both heavier and harder than gold. Its fracture sensitivity is greater than that of gold.

Copper in jewelry

• Metal Cu, which has a very long history. The oldest copper jewelry is 10,000 years old.
• Copper is also an antimicrobial substance that destroys bacteria and fungi. It also prevents their reproduction. Therefore, copper is used in water pipes and in the surfaces of large kitchens.
• Copper is used as an alloying agent in gold and silver jewelry.

KUPARI AND ALLERGY:

• Copper is considered a safe material. Does not cause allergies.

Titan in jewelry

• Metal Ti, was found in. 1791. The pure metal was only successfully produced in 1910.
• Titanium is a lightweight and hard material for jewelry. (four times harder than steel and five times lighter than gold). Pure titanium is gray.

Nickel

• Nickel Ni
• Nickel has previously been used a lot in, among other things, buttons for trousers and in jewelry.
• The EU Nickel Directive from 2001 (and its amendment from 2005) prohibits the sale of harmful products containing nickel within the EU. If a product is in direct and prolonged contact with the skin (e.g., jewelry), it must not release nickel above 0.5 µg/cm2/week. In initial jewelry, the limit is even stricter: the amount of nickel released must be less than 0.2 µg/cm2/week

NICKEL AND ALLERGY

• Nickel is a common cause of contact allergy. In Finland, about twenty percent of women and a couple of percent of men have become sensitized to nickel.

Surgical steel = stainless steel

• Metal alloy. Kirunginteräs means stainless steel, which is primarily an alloy of iron, chromium, and nickel. In the Kromia mixture, there is at least 10.5%.
• Stamp 316L. The letter L comes from the words "low carbon," meaning low carbon.
• Stainless steel is commonly used in jewelry due to its affordability, but the same material is also common in everyday items such as cutlery or even in industrial piping. A very common material around us.
• A darker and therefore more masculine shade without deep shine. Therefore, especially in jewelry designed for men, it is common.

Contrary to popular belief, surgical steel (=stainless steel) contains nickel. Nickel, however, is in a form that does not release onto the skin and is therefore safe to use.

Metal jewelry

• If the jewelry is made of jewelry metal, it can practically mean almost any cheap metal alloy. "Korumetallia" is not standardized in any way.  Often, the seller of the jewelry does not know what substances have been used in the alloy. Generally, inexpensive jewelry is made from the cheapest materials possible, unfortunately sometimes including the cancer-causing Cadmium. Cadmium has not been allowed to be used in jewelry in the EU since December 2011. According to the European Commission, high concentrations of harmful cadmium have been found in some jewelry, particularly in counterfeit jewelry imported from outside the EU. Fake jewelry refers to jewelry made from costume metal.
• Metal jewelry is often surface-treated with silver (=the word "silver-plated") or some other gray-colored material. For example, if the jewelry is silver-plated, it often means that a thin layer of quickly worn silver has been applied to the surface of the jewelry metal. When silver or another gray-colored material wears away, the redness of the jewelry metal becomes visible (jewelry metal often contains copper).

• Metal jewelry can cause allergies. I would be very cautious, especially with earrings, and I wouldn't put any material that I don't fully know what it is (e.g., jewelry metal) on the thin skin of the earring hole.

I hope this article was helpful.

t Riikka