Explanation

Nickel (blood): what is measured?

The analysis measures how much nickel is in your blood. Nickel is a metal found in small amounts in almost all food, with somewhat more in chocolate, licorice, nuts, legumes and whole grain products. It can also end up in food and drinking water through pans, kitchen utensils and pipes. Little is known about the function of nickel in the human body.

What can it detect?

Recent exposure to nickel through food, drinking water or work

Result

What does the result mean?

Nickel (blood) too high

A raised value means that you took in relatively much nickel shortly before the blood draw, for example through food or through water that had been standing in the pipes for a long time. A raised value is not a sign of a nickel allergy and does not predict symptoms either. With work involving nickel, for example electroplating or welding, the value can be structurally higher; the occupational physician then monitors this.

Nickel (blood) too low

A low or unmeasurable value is normal and occurs in most people. There is no known nickel deficiency in humans, so a low result does not call for supplementation. A low value does not rule out a nickel allergy.

After an abnormal result

With a raised result, the GP looks at the possible source, for example food, tap water or work. If contact allergy is suspected, referral to the dermatologist for a patch test follows.

Reliability

How reliable is the test?

Nickel in blood is mainly informative with a known exposure, for example through work; in people without known exposure, a single value says little. Nickel allergy is a contact allergy of the skin and is diagnosed with a patch test on the skin, not with a blood test. A nickel value in blood therefore cannot show or rule out an allergy. The result says something about exposure, not about a buildup that you can remove with a course of treatment.

What can affect the result?

Food rich in nickel, such as chocolate, licorice, nuts and legumes, raises the value temporarily.
Water from a tap that has not been used for a long time contains more nickel; this can affect the result.
The test says nothing about a nickel allergy; a patch test on the skin is needed for that.
There are no agreed cutoff values above which a result counts as abnormal.

Who it is for

Who is the test useful for?

Useful for

Useful with a known exposure through work, usually at the request of the occupational physician. In people without symptoms and without known exposure, the measurement adds nothing. Anyone who develops eczema after skin contact with jewelry, buckles or eyeglass frames needs a patch test, not a blood test.

How common is it?

Contact allergy to nickel is common, especially in women; the symptom is eczema where the skin touches an object containing nickel. Nickel poisoning through food does not occur in the Netherlands. Nickel occurs naturally in the soil and ends up in shallow groundwater mainly in sandy soils.

The Netherlands Nutrition Centre (Voedingscentrum) and the RIVM (Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment)

Drawbacks and risks

The result is easily read as proof for or against a nickel allergy, while the test says nothing about that.
A raised value can lead to an unnecessarily strict low-nickel diet, while that is only useful in exceptional situations and under supervision.

Get tested

Nickel (blood): test panels

Nickel (blood) is part of these test panels. You order online and have your blood drawn at a collection point or collect the sample at home.

Blood draw
Nickel
Nickel in blood; exposure or allergy.
€ 42,00

Evidence

Sources

This explanation is based on Dutch guidelines and independent information. It is general information, not a diagnosis. Discuss an abnormal result with your GP.

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