Allergisch gegen Euros? - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[Gatsby2]

Ein gewisses Unbehagen gegenüber dem neuen Geld werden sicherlich immer noch viele verspüren.

Einigen könnte es aber in durchaus physischem Sinne schlecht gehen, nämlich Nickelallergikern: Schweizer Dermatologen haben herausgefunden, daß die Ein- und Zwei-Euro Münzen in verschwitzten Händen bis zum 300-fachen des nach EU-Richtlinien zulässigen Grenzwertes an Nickelionen freisetzen.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Irritating coins

Allergic to the euro
Sep 12th 2002
From The Economist print edition


Why the euro may be a rash move

IT IS not only Eurosceptics who
can claim allergy to the euro.
Anybody who is sensitive to
nickel may also wish to handle
the coins with care. Research
published in Nature this week
shows that one- and two-euro
coins, when clutched in sweaty
hands, release 300 times more
nickel than is allowed by EU
guidelines. Frank Nestle, a
dermatologist at the University
of Zürich Hospital, in
Switzerland, was prompted to
investigate the coins after
hearing complaints in his clinic.

Even before euro coins became
legal tender in January, there
was consternation at the use of
nickel alloys in their
manufacture. It was argued that
nickel ions leaching out of the coins as they corroded would cause
hand eczema in the 15% of women and 2% of men who are
already allergic, and might sensitise more of the population to
nickel as well. However, the alloys employed in the
euros—cupro-nickel and nickel-brass—have long been used to
make hard-wearing coins that are difficult to forge. What was
good enough for individual EU countries was surely good enough
for the common currency.

But the results suggest that euros are worse than the coins they
have replaced. The one- and two-euro coins release more irritating
ions than a lump of pure nickel would. Dr Nestle worked in
collaboration with Hannes Speidel and Marcus Speidel, two
metallurgists, to find out why. The problem, they concluded, is the
dashing two-tone design. The outer ring and the inner circle are
made from different alloys, which have different electric potentials.
Clutch a coin in a sweaty hand and the metals connect through
the salty solution to make a mini-battery. The tiny current
produced is harmless in itself, but the flow of charge drags nickel
ions out of the coin and on to the skin.

Stephen Carter, a researcher at LGC, a chemical laboratory in
Britain, was asked to test the coins before they were introduced
into circulation. He also reported, in a paper published in Contact
Dermatitis in March 2001, that nickel release from the euro coins
exceeded EU guidelines. However, he explains that the exposure
limits are for prolonged contact—as with jewellery or a watch.
Coins are not usually in the hand for long enough to do any harm
when they pass straight from purse to retailer.

[vicadi]

Pecunio non olet!

[FOZZIBAER]

Da kann man mal wieder sehen, wie langsam die Schweizer
sind.
Einen zu hohen Nickelanteil bemegelte "Markt Intern"
aus Düsseldorf schon Monate vor der Euroeinführung.

[Gatsby2]

Fozzi, schweizer Forscher in einem britischen Blatt, und keiner hat den Euro ... Mußte wohl mal sein.

Aber vielleicht wundert sich der eine oder die andere wirklich über Pusteln in den Händen. Also dachte ich mir, ich bring`s nochmal...