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Some people have claimed that nickel is unsafe to use in flatware (i.e. cutlery) - Example 1, Example 2.

Indeed, nickel is a carcinogen (Ref 1, Ref 2).

Is it safe to use nickel-plated flatware?

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    Has anyone claimed it is dangerous? We want to focus our attention on doubtful claims that are widely held or are made by notable people, rather than just speculation. Please provide some references to places where this claim is being made. – Oddthinking Aug 27 '11 at 06:44
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    Agreed, please show us some that someone is actually claiming that as this looks like mere speculation. – Sklivvz Aug 27 '11 at 09:18
  • Also nickel silver (usually used on flatware) is different than pure nickel. The concern regarding toxicity is mainly aimed towards industrial workers that are exposed to nickel every day. – Nostrum Aug 27 '11 at 14:30
  • Some people are allergic to nickel. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nickel-allergy/DS00826 – Dan Brumleve Aug 28 '11 at 06:02
  • @Nostrum: Aren't you exposed to cutlery every day? :) But well - we're eating with flatware, not eating the flatware. – user unknown Aug 28 '11 at 14:40
  • Here's a claim on a blog which reads "Nickel is not poisonous in small quantities but it can cause an allergic reaction. People with nickel allergies should avoid cooking with stainless steel cookware." Source: http://eartheasy.com/blog/2009/01/healthy-cookware/ There's also an article entitled "Stainless steel cookware as a significant source of nickel, chromium, and iron" that mentions "nickel sensitive patients" on this Government web site: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1514841 – Randolf Richardson Aug 29 '11 at 03:13
  • You might like Bioavailability, intracellular mobilization of nickel, and HIF-1{alpha} activation in human lung epithelial cells exposed to metallic nickel and nickel oxide nanoparticles which in the abstract says "metallic Ni nanoparticles, in contrast to micron-sized Ni particles, activate a toxicity pathway characteristic of carcinogenic Ni compounds". So now it's just a matter of, does flatware release nickel nanoparticles and/or micron-sized nickel compound particles? – w00t Oct 16 '12 at 11:00
  • I started researching this, but the question is still unclear. Some people are talking about the Nickel/Coppter undercoat of silver-plating, in which case you aren't exposed unless the silver-plating is worn away. Some people are talking about stainless steel - some alloys contain some nickel content. – Oddthinking Nov 11 '17 at 12:42

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