One thing to keep in mind with nickel allergy is that it is not uncommon for someone that has contact dermatitis to be sensitive to other metals as well. While all our nickel free belts are custom made from a nickel free steel alloy (and certified nickel free by an independent lab), a particularly sensitive person could still find that they are reacting to the nickel free belt buckle. If so, it is probably due to multiple metal allergies!
We highly recommend to these customers that they see their doctor and have a full panel patch test conducted with various metals. In general, the most common allergies occur with nickel, gold (yes, even pure 24k gold can cause allergies!), palladium, cobalt, mercury, chromium, and silver. Less common, but still causing contact dermatitis, are zinc (very commonly used, much like nickel) and tin. It is very uncommon for anyone to ever react to titanium.
If you do have multiple metal allergies, you really want to find out. While it is easy to take off a nickel free belt, it is much harder to remove an artificial hip joint! Knowing if you are allergic to a certain class of metals can prevent much more serious reactions. Can you imagine finding out you, or your child, is allergic to the metal used in orthodontics, or worse, some sort of medical implant? Medical implants can be pace makers, hip joints, stents, screws and pins used in repairing broken bones, cochlear ear implants, and insulin pumps, to name a few. The list is extensive, and a severe allergy to any of these could cause life threatening problems.
So if you ever have a reaction to one of our nickel free belts, please contact us and we will work with you to find a solution.Our belts have a lifetime guarantee to be nickel free! But please, immediately after, contact your doctor and explore the possibility that you have more than just an allergy to nickel.
Originally published by David Cross on 3-26-2014.
]]>Our trademark for this new collection says it all: Nickel Zero: Our Brand Name is Our Promise™. Our purpose is always to give our customers quality products that are guaranteed for life to never test positive for nickel. Zero nickel means no nickel rash! Since NickelFreeBelts.com has the exclusive offering of the Nickel Zero Belts Collection, you'll only find them here!
These new belts are budget-friendly, so those who like to wear a different belt every day can do so without pain to the pocketbook! Take a look at what we're offering to start:
Interested in a brown nickel free belt?
The Pathfinder Belt by Nickel Zero has a cognac brown strap edged in black for nice contrast; the big and beefy nickel free buckle has a hammered look which nicely offsets the strap.
We're also offering several new belts in black -
The Outback Belt by Nickel Zero features a rugged nickel free roller buckle that has been stitched to a black full grain leather strap.
For the office or dress-casual settings, Slick City Belt by Nickel Zero showcases a polished buckle against a sleek full grain leather black strap.
For those who like the idea of a big belt buckle, but have always dreaded the nickel allergy rash, here is the answer: The Peacekeeper Belt by Nickel Zero! This black belt has a large polished western chip buckle – guaranteed to be nickel free, of course!
We will be adding several more Nickel Zero belts in the early Spring, so check back with us soon for even more great belts at excellent prices!
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If so, you are not alone! Last month Fitbit apologized for using nickel in their popular “Fitbit” line of exercise trackers. Worn on the wrist, these wearable smart devices were causing mysterious rashes on user’s skin. Although Fitbit used surgical grade steel, they failed to realize that even “surgical grade” contains nickel. The forums on their site were stuffed with complaints from people diagnosed with contact dermatitis. Fitbit has offered refunds to any users affected.
As a nickel allergy sufferer, it seems pretty ridiculous that any company wouldn’t think to source their components nickel free. After all, this must be considered in Europe due to heavy regulation of nickel use through legislation. But Fitbit was not alone. Jawbone, another manufacturer of wearable devices, has also been found to use parts that contain nickel. And this is in a product prone to coming in contact with the corrosive power of sweat!
Although annoying and careless, this has at least made the news and sent a warning to other manufacturers. Go nickel free from the start, or nickel allergy sufferers will single you out!
Originally published by Janice Enright 3-23-2014
]]>Originally published by Janice Enright March 24, 2014
]]>If someone is sensitive to nickel they know to use products that are nickel free (such as our nickel free belts). But a growing problem in today’s health conscious society is the ingestion of foods that are heavy in nickel. The very foods we are told are good for us tend to have higher concentrations of nickel. Nickel that is ingested builds up over time, until it reaches a level that can trigger a systemic reaction. The most common side-effect is an itching, over-all rash that tends to concentrate around the outside of elbows and palms of hands. Some medical experts suspect that the concentrations build up in thicker skin where there is less blood flow. So what foods should you avoid if you have nickel allergy? Here is a partial list:
On the list of “high” for nickel content:
Legumes, whole grains, and nuts are big culprits. And these are often the things we are told to eat more of to be “healthy”! Cocoa, chocolate, coffee, and tea are high in nickel (sorry!). Green tea is worse than black tea by a considerable amount. Soy products (do you drink a lot of soy milk?), and some vitamin supplements contain high amounts of nickel.
On the list of “moderate” are a few more favorites:
Red wine and beer (sorry again!). Tuna (watch that sushi!), mackerel, tomatoes, onions, and raw carrots, garlic, and spinach.
One overlooked source of ingested nickel can come from canned foods, where nickel is drawn into the food product from the can. Another is from cooking food in stainless steel pots (remember, stainless-steel DOES contain nickel!). While cooking in general is ok, cooking acidic foods (like tomato sauce) can draw in considerable amounts of nickel. Also, it is recommended that if you drink water, or use water for cooking, that you let it run a few minutes to clear out any built up metals in the water.
If you suspect dietary nickel dermatitis (or, as some people with nickel allergy have found, you have symptoms that are very similar to the symptoms from auto-immune disorders, such as fibromyalgia) see your doctor. Besides a low nickel diet, he/she may prescribe a drug called “Antabuse”. Antabuse is used to treat alcoholism, and is sometimes prescribed due to its ability to draw nickel out of the body.
So living completely nickel free may not be as easy as simply buying a nickel free belt, but at least there is something you can investigate if you are suffering from strange symptoms of fatigue, have itching, scaly skin, or severe rashes on your hands and elbows! It may just be your nickel allergy talking to you ;).
Originally published by Janice Enright on March 27, 2014.
]]>Since June 30th, 1994, the EU has had legislation in place limiting the use of nickel in any article of clothing, piece of jewelry, or any other item that can come in contact with skin. It is illegal to use nickel!
So why is it, twenty years later, we don't have our own directive here in the United States?
As I thought about this question I tried to come up with reasons for why we are deemed less worth of protection than our fellow allergy sufferers on the other side of the Atlantic.
Was there legislation attempted, but buried by malevolent clothing and jewelry lobbyists?
Could it be a lack of awareness?
I started my search for answers with attempts at legislation. Jumping on the internet, I searched the congressional records first. Doing a keyword search for “nickel allergy”, I scanned the records from the 113th Congress, which is the current Congress, to the 101st Congress, which took office in 1989. Unfortunately, none of the congressional records pulled a match for that keyword term. There were plenty of hits for the keyword "nickel", but it always came up in the context of how scrap metal should be handled, or the proper disposal of batteries.
I then checked the legislation of California, my home state. While there were many keyword hits for “nickel”, there were none for “nickel allergy”. But then my heart gave a flutter! After going through twenty years of records, I saw a keyword term for “nickel-free”! Opening the text of the bill that was passed, I was disappointed to find this:
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a person shall not
manufacture, ship, sell, offer for sale, or offer for promotional
purposes body piercing jewelry for retail sale or promotional
purposes in the state, unless the body piercing jewelry is made of
one or more of the following materials:(1) Surgical implant stainless steel.
(2) Surgical implant grade of titanium.
(3) Niobium (Nb).
(4) Solid 14 karat or higher white or yellow nickel-free gold.
(5) Solid platinum.
(6) A dense low-porosity plastic, including, but not limited to,
Tygon or Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), if the plastic contains no
intentionally added lead.
It was close, but this was actually a bill regarding the use of metals in body-piercings. I took heart from this, though! At least there is some concern somewhere in the cogs of government!
After this bit of research, I felt there was enough evidence to rule out evil corporations “out-lobbying” the nickel allergy population, since even bills that don’t make it are view-able. There went my conspiracy theory!
So could it be a lack of awareness?
That is hard for me to imagine, and here is why: The most current statistics on the numbers of people suffering from nickel allergy is actually in the 14%-17% range. That is a very significant number! As of 2013, the estimated population in the United States is around 317,000,000. Using the low end of the newer statistics, 14%, would mean that 44,380,000 people in the U.S. should be wearing one of our nickel free belts! Now, let’s go a little deeper with the numbers: There are 100 Senators, and 435 members of Congress. 535 x 14% = 74.9. There are about 75 people in Congress that are suffering from nickel allergy (I wonder if any of them have bought our belts? I will have to look at the sales records!).
So the evidence is showing that a lack of awareness is probably not the problem, since it would have to be impossible based on the statistics alone.
So what is it? Is nickel allergy such a minor problem that nobody can, or should, be bothered by it? Hard to believe the 2008 “Allergen of the Year” made the list by being innocuous (and yes, that is a real award. 2013 Allergen of the Year was “Methylisothiazolinone”. I have to admit, that does sound more ominous than “Nickel).
In the end I have decided there can only be one answer. It is because we Americans are hard working and busy living life. Now, I am certainly not saying people in Europe are lazy and sitting around on the couch all day! But I am saying that we have very different systems of government. Having grown up in Denmark, I can tell you that government is enormous and cumbersome over there. We complain here in the U.S. about the invasion of government (scandals involving Edward Snowden revelations aside), but it is nothing like over there! Micro-managing is an art form. In Denmark you would pay property taxes, just as you would here, but over there the tax man counts the numbers of windows with views in your house, and that will make a difference in what you pay! In Europe bureaucracy is always on the prowl for a new cause, and it tends to enjoy being proactive. Over here, we pretty much like to be left alone until something is wrong. We tend to be more reactive, at which point we follow a “squeaky-wheel-gets-the-oil” doctrine. We have let things lie, adopted a nickel-free lifestyle, and gotten back to our day-to-day living. But maybe it is time to put our collective voices together and be heard? Today I took the first step and sent a simple message to my representatives in Congress, asking them to look into adding a nickel directive to our laws. I am hoping that you, who took the time to read this article, will also send a message to your representative today. It is really not hard to reach the ears of those that make the decisions, and surprisingly, they tend to welcome sane, thoughtful requests! The message doesn't have to be long, and the whole process will take less than five minutes. To make it as easy as possible, I have included two links below. One to locate your Congress-person, and one to locate your Senators (you actually have two Senators in each state, and you should contact each one. You can just copy and paste your message from one into the email of the other).
To find your Congress-person, go to:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
Simply type in your zip code and hit “enter”. Voila! Then click the little email envelope next to their picture to go straight to their email form!
For your Senator go to:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/...
Choose your state from the drop down menu and two names will show up. Just click on the links under their phone numbers to be taken to their respective websites. These are a little more hit and miss. Some will take you straight to an email form; some will take you to a main “contact” page, where you can choose “e-mail me”.
Here is a quick snippet you can copy and paste to save even more time:
As a nickel allergy sufferer, I am hoping that our country will soon have legislation in place requiring that manufacturers of products that come in contact with skin will be required to source their metals nickel free. Europe has had such a directive in place since 1994 and I think it is time we do as well.
Ask friends and family to join in! I am going to send this blog post to everyone on Nickelfreebelts.com's extensive mailing list. With a little luck, who knows? A simple addition to an existing piece of legislation and none of us will ever have to worry about what we are wearing again!
Now, I realize that if we are collectively successful I run the risk of putting my employer out of business, but to be honest, I think that would be OK by them!
Originally posted by Janice Enright 4-6-2014
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