Nickel is a silvery white metal which is most of the time used to make many alloys since it’s very hard. These alloys are used to make coins, jewelry, valves and heat exchangers. Nickel is also used to make stainless steel, and is easily combined with other compounds like sulfur, chorine, and oxygen. Most of the elements dissolve easily in water. The compounds do not have an odor or taste. The nickel compound in most instances is used to make color ceramics, plating, and batteries.
Nickel is released to the environment by the large furnaces that are used to make the alloys from the industries and incinerators. The product that comes out is then attached to plants. The small dust particles may also settle on the ground or absorbed in the air or rain. The nickel is also released in water, but most of it ends up in soil sediments where it combines with other elements like iron or magnesium. It takes many days to remove the nickel from the air or ground.
The metal nickel causes nickel toxicity; one is exposed to it by breathing, drinking water, eating food that has nickel elements, smoking tobacco and skin contact with the element. There are those people that are exposed to the nickel through jewelry that has nickel alloys. Some artificial body parts also do have nickel alloys in them.
It is easy for a person to know what nickel they are exposed to, and hence it cannot easily affect your health. If you however breathe in the air that contains the nickel, the amount reaches your lungs and enters the blood stream depending on the size of the particles. If the particles are large, then they will only stay at the nose, but if they are somehow smaller, then they will enter deep into the lungs. The nickel continues to settle in your lungs and settles there for a long time; it then leaves the body through mucus or is spat out through the mouth. There is also some nickel that is passed out through the intestines. The amount that enters the blood stream is placed on the skin. The nickel goes to all organs of the body, but mainly the kidneys.
Most of the nickel toxicity research has not been based on human testing but by studies that have been conducted on animals. During the testing, the rats have died after consuming large amounts of nickel. The high level amounts of the metal affects the stomach, liver, kidneys and the immune system. Effects on the reproduction system were also cited where some defects were noted.
For human beings, the most harmful effect is allergic reactions. Most people who are sensitive to the metal get affected as a result of wearing jewelry that has nickel alloys. When a person skin gets into contact with the metal, a reaction occurs; most of the people will get a rash at the place of contact. In some other people, dermatitis may occur at a place that is not near the area of contact.
