Euro coins 'trigger allergy' (BAD IDEA ALERT)

BBC News ^ | September 12, 2002 | BBC News

[MadIvan]

High nickel levels in some euro coins can cause red hands and painful itching, researchers warn.

Other symptoms include inflation, loss of national sovereignty, bureaucrats in Brussels being insufferably smug... - Ivan

Researchers from the University of Zurich say the design of the one and two euro coins - an external ring of metal surrounding an inner "pill" of a different colour - lead to the release of high levels of the metal.

They say the yellow and white alloys contain different amounts of nickel, copper and zinc, which encourage corrosion as metal ions flow from one alloy to the other when they are exposed to sweat for long periods.

They could contain between 240 and 320 times the quantity of nickel allowed under the European Union Nickel Directive, according to the scientists.

Another reason not to take the EU seriously, they can't even follow their own directives - Ivan

They say this explains why some people suffer bad skin reactions to the euro coins, but not others such as the Swiss franc which have similar levels of nickel.

It also may have something to do with the fact that the Swiss franc is real money - Ivan

Allergic reaction

Seven patients who were sensitive to nickel had coins taped to their skins for 72 hours. All showed positive results when they were tested for allergic reactions.

A study published last November showed nickel levels in euros were high enough to trigger symptoms of eczema on the hands of people with allergies if they held the coins for five minutes.

And in January, a Barcelona hospital reported 20 patients had sought treatment for painful itching and red hands caused by handling the coins.

Constant handling

Dr Clive Grattan, a consultant dermatologist at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital welcomed the study.

"It is an interesting development and it could have important clinical implications."

Yes, we need a warning sticker: "The Euro is hazardous to your health as well as your wallet" - Ivan

But speaking to BBC News Online he added: "It is only through continuous handling and through sweating that the nickel leeches into the skin and causes this reaction."

The research is published in the journal Nature.

[MadIvan]

I am not sure whether to laugh at this or cry at the incompetence behind it. To hell with it, I'm laughing.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Bump!

[Happygal]

I don't have enough Euro to get allergic to!

The rip off in the change over from Punts to Yo-yo's has been breathtaking.

Laugh away, Ivan.
But if you had to live with it you'd be bawling ~sob~ *S*

[MadIvan]

But if you had to live with it you'd be bawling ~sob~ *S*

I would be, but I'm not. I've got good old fashioned British pounds in my wallet. ;)

Dancing, not in Riverdance style, for joy ;)

Best Regards, Ivan

[Happygal]

Never thought I'd see the day, I'd be envious of a limey ;-)

[MadIvan]

Never thought I'd see the day, I'd be envious of a limey ;-)

The punt was actually a beautiful currency too - it must have been awful giving up your nice banknotes for that awful Monopoly money.

Best Regards, Ivan

[Happygal]

And monopoly money is exactly what it is. Most of the smaller denomination notes are falling apart already. And the 'conceptual' buildings they have put on them is no comparison to our old legal tender.

The Euro coinage has individual country identification marks on them. But the notes don't.They should have at least conceded to allow each country part design their own currency.

[tictoc]

Esperanto money. In Germany, also known as "Teuro" (Teuer = expensive) because merchants jacked up prices at the currency changeover.

[MadIvan]

And monopoly money is exactly what it is. Most of the smaller denomination notes are falling apart already. And the 'conceptual' buildings they have put on them is no comparison to our old legal tender.

I handled those banknotes in France. I can't begin to describe how much I hated it - how ugly it was, how utterly phony it looked, how even East German Marks I've held seem to hold more value.

Yes they should have allowed the nations to design at least one side of the banknotes, but I doubt that will happen.

Best Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

In Germany, also known as "Teuro" (Teuer = expensive) because merchants jacked up prices at the currency changeover.

That was predictable. The EU bureaucrats acted like spoiled children because they refused to believe it would.

Regards, Ivan

[Happygal]

We've seen over 40% price hikes in some goods. It's incredible. And no sign of the Eurocrats coming in to clamp down on those who cashed in on the changeover.

If you'll pardon the French..it's a load of bollix! :-)

[PatrioticAmerican]

Another example of why socialism is stupid: The people running the show usually are.

[general_re]

But speaking to BBC News Online he added: "It is only through continuous handling and through sweating that the nickel leeches into the skin and causes this reaction."

Oh, well, that's okay then - pretty soon, the average European will have been taxed to the point that they won't have two Euros to rub together, let alone one to "continuously handle". Problem solved ;)

[Puppage]

Itching, chaffing, jock itch? Use CREW-X

[tictoc]

Another thought:

It's only supermarket cashiers who are being "inconvenienced". But that's okay since they're expendable proles right?

Well, maybe when the supermarket chains run out of willing candidates to break out in hives for minimum pay, they will convert - surprise! - to cashless registers. Customers will have to pay using debit cards, with every transaction leaving an electronic trail.

And we are one step further along to a society in which citizens become entirely transparent to the state. This couldn't possibly be the intention of the Eurocrats, though. I'm sure it's just an innocent mistake and will soon be corrected.

[Consort]

No problems. Euro-pee-ons have Universal Health €are.

[robertpaulsen]

"...had coins taped to their skins for 72 hours."

Well, there's the problem! They should carry the coins in their pockets the way we do in the US. Silly people, those Europeans.

[mvpel]

They warned about this problem last year, and the "experts" scoffed.

[boris]

They should have plated them with beryllium.

--Boris

[Jack of all Trades]

Several months ago there was a news report that these same coins tended to fall apart when exposed to low temperature. The two different metals contract at different rates, and the press fit is lost. Anyone else heard of this?