Keeping your bling allergy free

Dippal Manchanda tells us about the new Quick Nickel Test developed by researchers at the laboratory of the Birmingham Assay Office

MUCH has been written about the dangers of nickel sensitisation and while it is acknowledged that extreme cases resulting in disability are rare, most of us know someone who has itchy and unsightly allergic reactions to anything which is suspiciously shiny and white. 

The majority of the jewellery and watch trade have taken their responsibilities seriously, and tens of thousands of pounds have been spent on product testing and experimenting to remove nickel completely, to reduce the amount of nickel released and to develop compliant products. Since the legislation became enforceable in July 2000, the amount of non compliant products being seen by the test houses has dropped drastically and it is estimated that well over 90% of products tested now pass.

Whatever the product specification may say and whatever reassurances the importer or retailer may have received from the original supplier, the practice of “due diligence” to ensure that products are complaint still requires “all reasonable steps” to be taken. This should include some routine and random testing to BS EN 1811, the test stipulated in the UK Nickel regulations (and the European Directive).

However, this test is the most difficult aspect of the nickel legislation. While there is a genuine need to protect consumers from nickel sensitisation and the allergic reactions it may cause, the legally recognised test is unsatisfactory because it takes eight days to carry out, is destructive, labour intensive and therefore costly. 

At one end of the scale importers and retailers of low price high volume fashion costume jewellery struggle to justify spending over £50 per item per batch to ensure compliance, especially when it adds 8 days or more to their lead times. At the other end of the scale, those selling expensive white gold pieces have no desire to ruin one from every batch by submitting it for nickel testing.

In response to customer demand and the increase in compliant products coming on to the market containing little if any nickel, chemists at the Birmingham Assay Office, led by technical director Dippal Manchanda have now developed a new “Quick Nickel Test”.

Marion Wilson, marketing director explains: “We wanted to offer a test which is quick, gives an accurate result for each component, is as non destructive as possible and most of all is better value for our customers. Taking over a week and charging over £50 to test a fashion earring which will retail in a supermarket for less than £2 and is essentially ‘disposable’ is not being customer focussed, but BS EN 1811 is what the legislation requires, and to date there has been no alternative.” 

However, following nearly a year of in depth research, investigating many alternative approaches, Manchanda and his team have developed a new procedure which meets all the criteria described by Wilson and delivers a result which is 98.5% accurate in identifying items which will definitely PASS BS EN 1811, in less than three days.

Manchanda has established a comprehensive database of results and research, sufficient to give the Birmingham Assay Office confidence to promote this new unique test as an alternative to 1811.

So how does it work? Understandably Manchanda was not about to disclose all the details of the test procedure, which are of course confidential, but he was prepared to say: “The Birmingham Assay Office Method 50, which has been accredited by UKAS to ISO 17025 includes the full BS EN 12472 test, including the revisions made in 2005, followed by testing based on the principles of PR EN 12471. The big difference is that while 12471 is only 84% accurate in identifying items which would pass 1811, the new Quick Nickel test is 98.5% accurate. We have achieved this improvement after widespread research and development of the existing method”

If the Quick Nickel Test does not prove an item to be a definite “pass”, it will be classified as either a definite “fail”, or if the results are uncertain, may be categorised as “resubmit for testing to EN 1811”. 

Currently the new test is not being recommended for post assemblies, where the permitted nickel release is significantly lower, but this is an objective for the future.

The new test costs £25 for results on up to five components, compared with a list price of £58 for the EN 1811 reference test. Surely there must be a catch?

Marion Wilson explained the philosophy: “The Birmingham Assay Office’s primary function is to protect the consumer and be supportive to the jewellery trade. We have always felt the 1811 test to be unhelpful and inappropriate in terms of time and cost and have sympathised with our customers’ frustration with it.  We have offered a guaranteed turn round of eight days for the past couple of years, the shortest possible time as the test item has to sit in an oven for seven continuous days, but we know it is still too long commercially. 

We are aware that many customers probably don’t do enough testing and many are looking to the Far East for their testing in order to save time, and sometimes money. While there are reputable test houses over there, we have also seen certificates purporting to be for the 1811 test where results were delivered in two days – a physical impossibility. We have also heard anecdotally that even some of the big laboratories are not up to speed with the regulations and, for example, have not adopted the recent changes to the methods.

We want to encourage the trade to ensure their product is compliant in the interests of the consumer, and therefore we have an objective to make it as easy as possible for them.  Our belief is that the quicker, cheaper test will attract more nickel testing business to Birmingham and compensate for the lower average price.

Three of our major customers have been trialling this test for the past two months and are extremely satisfied with it and the benefits it is bringing them. We have also demonstrated it to major retailers who have approved its use for products supplied to them. It is the test our customers have been asking for and we are delighted to be able to offer it at long last”.