Nickel allergy is triggered by soluble nickel ions at the skin, not by the fact that a stainless alloy contains nickel. That is why REACH does not set a simple “% nickel in the part” limit for most jewellery-like articles. It sets a release rate, tested by EN 1811.
The legal frame (EU)
REACH Annex XVII, entry 27 restricts nickel in articles that are inserted into pierced parts of the body, and in articles intended to come into direct and prolonged contact with the skin.
The limit values in common use:
- 0.2 μg/cm²/week for post assemblies (piercing posts).
- 0.5 μg/cm²/week for other articles in direct and prolonged contact with the skin.
“Prolonged” is the language of the restriction: contact that is not a one-second touch. Jeans buttons, metal sew-ons against the wrist, zipper pulls at the neck, belt buckles and scarf hardware are the apparel cases. A logo that sits on a coat lining and never meets skin is a different conversation — still test if a brand RSL says so.
Coated articles must keep the coating effective for two years of normal use. That is why labs wear the piece first with EN 12472 (wear and corrosion) and then run EN 1811.
What the test does
EN 1811 immerses the contact surface in artificial sweat (chloride, lactic acid, urea, pH about 5.5) at about 30 °C for 168 hours. Nickel in the solution is measured (GFAAS or ICP-MS) and expressed as μg/cm²/week. Because the method has uncertainty, the standard’s interpretation uses adjusted pass thresholds (the familiar 0.35 / 0.88 figures in the 2015 amendment language). Ask the lab which edition they run (EN 1811:2011+A1:2015 and later amendments are the ones you will see on reports).
A dimethylglyoxime spot test is only a screen. It is not a REACH report.
Factory implications
A bright nickel plate can look expensive and fail release. A thick decorative plate plus a sound lacquer can pass even when the substrate contains nickel. 304/316 stainless often passes; nickel silver and some white-bronze looks often do not.
Reports are batch- and finish-specific. Change the antique process or the sealer and you have a new article. Keep EN 1811 in the same pack as lead/cadmium (which are content limits) so nobody confuses the two chemistries.