Many women who wear a pair of alloy earrings complain of painful red swelling and blisters. Even coins and belt buckles may also cause an unpleasant allergic reaction when they rub against the skin.
The research team claim that the reason behind allergies is that they all contain nickel. Nickel binds to a particular immune-system protein normally involved in detecting harmful invaders.
In susceptible people, this results in the body recognising nickel as an infectious agent and triggering inflammation.
As the immune system goes into overdrive, it produces the classic symptoms of burning, itching, redness, swelling and blisters.
The study appears in journal Nature Immunology.
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