Determination of nickel in fingernails and forearm skin (stratum corneum) Original Research Article

A atomic absorption spectrometry method for the determination of nickel in finger nails and in the upper layer of the skin (stratum corneum) was developed, validated and applied in an experimental study on nickel allergic patients and non-nickel allergic controls. The relative intermediate precision (including between-day variation) was in the range 5.5–12%, and the limit of detection was 0.2 μg nickel per g nail and 1 ng nickel per skin sample, respectively. The baseline levels of nickel in nails were approximately 1.58 μg per g nail, which is comparable to previously reported reference values. No differences could be observed between patients and controls. Both nickel in nails and in skin samples increased significantly when low nickel doses were applied to fingers and the forearm, respectively. This suggests that nickel in nails and in skin samples may be relevant in characterizing occupational skin exposure to nickel.