Contact sensitivity to nickel in white gold

Nickel release from white gold discs stored at room temperature for 1 week in synthetic sweat was analyzed. The nickel content of the discs was 2-15%. The nickel release from the discs was 0.09-0.82 microgram. Rhodium plating reduced the nickel release to 0.04-0.54 microgram. 18 nickel-sensitive women were patch tested with the white gold discs and all showed at least 1 positive patch test reaction. All the white gold discs gave a negative dimethylglyoxime test.