text: is it possible to develop an allergic reaction to gold, when you have never had a problem before? i have been wearing my wedding band for 2 years now, and never had a problem, now i get these itchy bumps around my finger and it swells up. could i possibly be developing an allergic reaction now? also, i wear my engagement ring on my other hand and that finger is just fine, the engagement band and the wedding band are both 14 karat white gold. why would that band be ok and not the other? what is white gold?  white gold is an alloy of gold and some white metals such as silver and palladium. white gold can be 18ct, 14ct, 10ct or any karat. for example, 18ct yellow gold is made by mixing 75% gold (750 parts per thousand) with 25% (250 parts per thousand) other metals such as copper and zinc. 18ct white gold is made by mixing 75% gold with 25% other metals such as silver and palladium. so the amount of gold is the same but the alloy is different.  traditionally nickel was used in white gold, however, nickel is no longer used in most white gold made today as nickel can cause reactions with some people. we generally do not use or sell nickel in our white gold.  when white gold rings are new they are coated with another white metal called rhodium. rhodium is a metal very similar to platinum and rhodium shares many of the properties of platinum including its white color.  the rhodium plating is used to make the white gold look more white. the natural color of white gold is actually a light grey color. the rhodium is very white and very hard, but it does wear away eventually. to keep a white gold ring looking its best it should be re-rhodium plated approximately each 12 to 18 months.      why am i allergic to some gold jewelry?   every year we get a few customers who believe that they cannot wear gold jewelry because they get an allergic reaction to it. some believe that they are allergic to gold. we have never yet known anybody who was allergic to pure gold, and seems very unlikely as gold is inert and not active in the sense of corrosion or decomposition over time, nor is it acidic. the most common cause of allergic reactions to jewelry is nickel contained in the alloy. nickel is, or was, frequently used in white gold alloys because it is inexpensive, hard, and has a strong whitening effect. better quality white gold alloys use palladium, which has excellent properties but is more expensive.   commonest causes the next commonest cause of allergies for jewelry wearers appears to be detergent or other chemicals which lodge between the jewelry, usually rings, and the skin. hairdressers are often affected. rinsing well can help, but it is probably best to remove rings before using any troublesome chemicals, and use a barrier cream.   other causes a few jewelry wearers still seem to be slightly allergic to yellow gold's, nickel cannot be the cause because it is not used in yellow gold alloys. in most cases sufferers only experience problems with low gold content alloys such as ten carat, so upgrading to a better alloy such as eighteen carat usually solves all problems.   higher carat gold the other common components of ten carat gold alloys are copper, silver and zinc. zinc is usually very well tolerated, it is used in many medical preparations. silver and copper do not usually cause allergic reactions, but both will form compounds with atmospheric pollutants which may be the cause of some reported problems. when copper and silver are present in high carat alloy such as eighteen or twenty two carat, they are more resistant to attack by chemicals, because they are bound more closely with the gold content, and this will explain why high carat alloys cause fewer problems.   anti-perspirants strange as it may seem, but using anti-perspirants can exacerbate metal allergy problems. it has been found that the sweat of a healthy person in a sauna can contain 20 times the nickel content of blood plasma, this may help to explain why exercise can improve health. anti-perspirants can reduce the bodies natural way of eliminating heavy metals. healthy natural lifestyles tend to improve health, whereas unnatural practices can cause problems.