By Dr. Paul Ehrlich
The piece on our New Science page about using nano technology to help people whose skin reacts to the metal nickel contains this astonishing data: “ten to fifteen percent of the US population, or over 30 to 45 million people.” That’s a lot of people who have trouble with their jewelry and pocket change.
We wrote about nickel in our book:
“Nickel—a common element in gold earrings, rings, and, of course, coins—produces nickel dermatitis. In fact, as reported in the Science section of the New York Times in September 2002, Swiss scientists were predicting a large increase in contact dermatitis because of the design of the new Euro-denominated coins in European monetary union countries as the coins begin to wear down from regular use. The Swiss do not use the Euro but as experts in both pharmaceuticals and money, they keep on top of both subjects.”