Concerns Raised About Electric Kettles
February 7, 2003 -- The UK Drinking Water Inspectorate has issued a report of research
showing that there is a pick-up of nickel if water is boiled in certain types of electric kettle. The UK
Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment has been asked for its view
on the significance of the findings for public health. It has concluded that more information is needed on
the possible exposure resulting from use of different types of kettle in normal conditions of use. A press
release on this subject was issued by the DWI yesterday and has been the subject of some UK media
comment.
For some time, as part of its Product Stewardship policy, NiDI has been carrying information about the use
of nickel-plated elements in immersion-type kettles on this web
site.
The following is an extract:
"Kettles having immersion heating elements place the water to be heated in direct contact with the heating element. This is in contrast to other kettles that will have a plate - typically made of stainless steel - between the water and the heating element.
The surface of the immersion heating element can be made of a number of different materials including nickel plating, nickel-chromium plating or nickel-containing stainless steel.
In use, however, the plating materials will release a certain amount of nickel. The actual amounts will vary with the type of water available (hard or soft, for instance), how often the kettle is "descaled" (removal of limescale build-up in the kettle), and how the kettle is used.
Nickel released from the heating element combined with the nickel that will naturally be present in the water may on occasion exceed guideline values for drinking water established by different authorities.
While there are no known health consequences from using kettles of this type, anyone wishing to restrict their ingestion of nickel should probably look at the many alternatives to the nickel or nickel-chromium plating heating elements of immersion-type kettles."
Further studies on this issue are being commissioned by the UK Drinking Water Inspectorate to provide more information on exposure to nickel from boiled water. NiDI will follow this work very closely and collaborate with it if requested.
For the full NiDI comments on immersion kettles click here.
For the DWI press release see: http://www.dwi.gov.uk/consumer/pr0302.htm
To download the full CTCFCPE report in PDF format see:
http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/2003-02.pdf
