(EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH) Annex XVII 27.

For jewellery containing nickel, the EU REACH Regulation contains specific requirements for the use of nickel in jewellery. According to the Regulation, jewellery may be dissolved in less than 0,5 μg/cm²/week of nickel in jewellery. For first piercings, the limit is even stricter, i.e. 0,2 μg/cm²/week

Nickel CAS No 7440-02-0 EC No 231-111-4 and its compounds

1. Shall not be used

(a) in any primary implantable devices intended for pierced ears and other pierced parts of the human body, unless the amount of nickel released from such primary implantable devices is less than 0,2 μg/cm²/week (migration limit);

b) in objects intended to come into direct and prolonged contact with the skin, such as

• earrings
• necklaces, bracelets and chains, ankle bracelets and rings
• watch cases, bracelets and buckles
• studs, buckles, rivets, zippers and metal tags when used on clothing,

if the amount of nickel released from parts of these articles which come into direct and prolonged contact with the skin exceeds 0,5 μg/cm²/week;

(c) for articles of the type listed in (b) above, when they have a nickel-free coating, unless this coating is sufficient to ensure that the amount of nickel released from parts of these articles which come into direct and prolonged contact with the skin does not exceed 0,5 μg/cm²/week during the normal life of the article, which shall be at least two years.

2. Articles referred to in paragraph 1 may not be placed on the market unless they comply with the requirements set out in that paragraph.

3. The standards adopted by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) shall be used as test procedures to ensure conformity of the articles with the requirements of paragraphs 1 and 2.

Source: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FI/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32009R0552&from=FI