Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University of Erlangen/Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany.
State Office for Agriculture, Food Safety and Fisheries Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 18059 Rostock, Germany.
Contact Dermatitis. 2018 May;78(5):321-328. doi: 10.1111/cod.12941. Epub 2017 Dec 28.
Nickel and cobalt are important metal allergens, and more knowledge on the levels of exposure to these from everyday contacts is needed.
To report the results of a repeat routine surveillance scheme in the Federal Republic of Germany on the release of nickel and cobalt.
Fifteen laboratories assessed earrings and piercing jewellery items from 12 of the states in 2014, complying with EN 1811:2011 + AC:2012 and using atomic absorption spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry for quantification. Kaplan-Meier analysis for left-censored data was employed to account for measurements below the limit of quantification.
Nickel release exceeded 0.35 µg/cm per week in 26 of 160 piercing posts (16.2%), and 0.88 µg/cm per week in 2.0-5.9% of other parts, that is, the current respective 'pass' thresholds, with no change from the previous 2008 survey. The level of cobalt release was lower than that of nickel release, and also significantly lower than in the previous survey.
The finding of the highest level of nickel release from piercing posts, with their deliberately lower threshold of acceptability, is worrying, as is the largely unchanged overall level of nickel release. A regulation on cobalt release is currently lacking; risk assessment and management based on dose-elicitation data are needed.
镍和钴是重要的金属过敏原，需要更多关于从日常接触中接触这些物质的水平的知识。
报告德国联邦共和国关于镍和钴释放的重复常规监测计划的结果。
15 个实验室根据 EN 1811:2011+AC:2012 标准评估了来自 12 个州的耳环和穿孔首饰，使用原子吸收光谱法、电感耦合等离子体质谱法和电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法进行定量分析。采用 Kaplan-Meier 分析方法对左删失数据进行分析，以考虑低于定量限的测量值。
160 个穿孔柱中有 26 个（16.2%）的镍释放量超过 0.35μg/cm/周，0.88μg/cm/周的比例为 2.0-5.9%，即当前各自的“合格”阈值，与前一次 2008 年的调查相比没有变化。钴的释放水平低于镍的释放水平，也明显低于前一次调查。
从穿孔柱中释放出的镍含量最高，而其可接受的阈值故意较低，这令人担忧，因为镍释放的总体水平基本没有变化。目前缺乏关于钴释放的法规；需要基于剂量诱发数据进行风险评估和管理。
