News emanating from the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) suggests that tech consumers would be wise to exercise a degree of caution the next time they’re on the hunt for a swanky new mobile phone.
UK skin experts say nickel in mobile phones is causing skin rashes. Image: SoylentGreen23/Flickr
More pointedly, skin experts from the UK association have revealed that some heavy mobile phone users are experiencing allergic reactions to the nickel used during the manufacturing process of handset casings and keypad buttons.
According to BAD, affected mobile phone users experience a rash on and around where the handset touches the face. The association also notes that nickel allergy is the most commonplace contact allergy in the British Isles, causing problems for around 30 percent of the total population.
The trend of allergic reactions was connected back to the nickel in mobile phones following a number of published case reports of patients being struck with seemingly inexplicable rashes in the region of the ear, cheek, and even on the fingers, reports the BBC.
BAD has said people with an established allergic reaction to nickel in jewellery should be particularly cautious when it comes to “mobile phone dermatitis,” as prior sensitisation will likely make them more susceptible of falling foul of the rash.
The findings offered up by BAD are supported by a U.S. study from earlier in the year, in which more than 20 popular mobile handsets were tested for nickel content.
According to study co-author Dr. Lionel Bercovitch of Brown University, Rhode, Island, almost half of the tested phones contained traces of nickel, with the menu buttons, decorative logos and the outer frames of metallic LCD displays being the most common areas of location.
In outlining the phone industry’s standpoint on the use of nickel in handset manufacturing, a spokesman from representative organisation GSM commented that “using a case or hands-free kit will minimise contact to surfaces that may contain nickel.”
He also suggested that some mobile phone manufacturers “plan to phase out use of nickel on surfaces across their product range.”
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