On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 07:52:28 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Jon Freeman"
wrote:

I'd need to research as I've not read anything in a while and am only toying
with the idea of jewelry again... but last time I had a play as a hobby, I
remember the subject of sliver and alergies cropping up elsewhere. One point
that was raised then was that sterling silver could contain nickel.
Regardless of what our (UK) stirling silver may contain for the 7.5%, there
are EU regulations over nickel.

Jon

Sterling silver alloys do not normally contain nickel, but nickel is indeed an
issue with a lot of finished sterling silver items. The problem is most
commonly one of an electroplated layer put OVER the sterling, to protect it from
oxidation. Rhodium is the common one, or platings like it. These usually
requiire preplating with a layer usually first of copper, and then of nickel,
before the rhodium outer layer. It's that plated nickel layer that is the most
common cause of nickel problems in sterling jewelry.

Peter