Vanessa, Body of Steel!

This article discusses the effects that a few metals have on the human body. One Example is the metal nickel. Humans are extremely sensitive to nickel, even in the smallest doses. An example is when someone gets a piercing they often develop a rash around the piercing. This is caused by the stainless steel or gold jewelry left in the hole. These types of jewelry often contain a small amount of nickel and cause rashes. Once people are exposed to this nickel, they will continue to be sensitive to any nickel they come in contact with. Although nickel has a negative effect on the body other metals are helpful in treating diseases. Examples of these types of metals are gold, silver, and copper. Copper is used to help try to cure heart disease and silver is sometimes believed to kill bacteria however, these treatments are not always approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and are not commonly accepted by the medical community.

Nickel: According to Yahoo Education “A silvery, hard, ductile, ferromagnetic metallic element used in alloys, in corrosion-resistant surfaces and batteries, and for electroplating.”

This article was very interesting to me because I prone to crazy rashes. Almost every time I wear stainless steel jewelry or even gold jewelry I break out in a rash. This rash then usually spreads and I become very itchy. For years I just thought I had sensitive skin and when I perspired I figured it just reacted with the metals. Now I know that it is because many people are sensitive to nickel. Now I know that I am not alone when I get a random rash on my wrists or neck. The most interesting part of the article however, was the fact that the FDA doesn’t approve these types of metal uses as treatment. There must be some reason why they don’t approve of these metals and I don’t think I am going to try them until I hear otherwise.

Colin Baird. “Metals have effects on the human body”, Chemistry In Your Life. 2nd ed. 2006. 20.

Yahoo Education. Jan 14, 2009. http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/nickel