Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia (Feb 2018)

Evaluation of nickel and cobalt release from mobile phone devices used in Brazil

  • Mariana de Figueiredo Silva Hafner,
  • Jessica Chia Sin Chen,
  • Rosana Lazzarini

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/abd1806-4841.20186800
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 93, no. 1
pp. 151 – 153

Abstract

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Abstract: Nickel and cobalt are often responsible for metal-induced allergic contact dermatitis. With the increasing use of cell phones, we observed an increase in cases reports on telephone-related allergic contact dermatitis. The present study evaluated nickel and cobalt release from mobile phones used in Brazil. We evaluated devices of 6 brands and 20 different models using nickel and cobalt allergy spot tests. Of the 20 models, 64.7% tested positive for nickel, with 41.1% positive results for the charger input and 23.5% for other tested areas. None of them was positive for cobalt. Nickel release was more common in older models.

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