Nickel-free earrings exist, so why aren't there any nickel-free disposable razors? Razors touch your skin daily and they often touch very sensitive areas. Those with nickel allergy, chemical allergies, and eczema have a hard time finding products they can use. Not only aren't there any nickel-free disposable razors on the market, but we also need this hypothetical razor model to be free of the chemical-filled moisturizing strip. Not having these solutions leaves thousands of people in physical pain as they deal with the consequences of their skin reactions.

I've written the razor companies and they either don't respond or don't have a solution. (Bic, Schick, Gilette. I even tried Target since they have a large generic line.)

Ever since my nickel and chemical allergies exploded in 2009, I haven't been able to use disposable razors. I react to nickel just like we all react to poison ivy. Skin allergies are also known as allergic contact dermatitis (a form of eczema). This has made my world not quite as pretty, to say the least!

While I've found electric razors which are nickel free and also free of the chemical filled moisturizing strips, they don't do a very good job and are nowhere near as convenient as disposable razors. Using them can also be painful! My dermatologist has advised me against laser hair removal and I suspect many other people with skin allergies / eczema also have skin that is too sensitive for those procedures.

Nickel allergy is one of the most common contact allergens and was named "Allergen of the Year" in 2008 by The American Contact Dermatitis Society. In an article written by Dr. Kathryn A. Zug and Rachel Kornik, when nickel won the Allergen of the Year title, it states that:

"With the rising incidence of nickel allergy in the United States and elsewhere, high nickel sensitization rates documented in children, and a resurgent issue of biomedical device complications (specifically, nickel allergy) due to metal, to dismiss nickel's importance and relevance to public health and skin disease would be a mistake.”

It also states, "Not only is nickel allergy prevalent in the young population, NACDG data show that as in adult females, nickel sensitization in girls is on the rise.” 

And this is only regarding the nickel side of things! So many people are allergic to chemicals and the types contained in those moisturizing strips on your razors aren't even listed on the package. Personally, I'd like for them to be gone all together - at least on ONE product... the same product which would be nickel free. Many titanium metals are actually an alloy containing nickel, so that's not necessarily an option either. I understand that nickel inhibits rust, but there must be another solution.

Thousands of people who read my blog are allergic to chemicals and nickel. If you are one of them, please sign this petition! If you can empathsize, please sign it!

*You can sign the petition without your information being posted on the website. Please don't hesitate!

Many thanks from myself and the other allergy sufferers out there!

Very Sincerely,

Jennifer

theallergista.com