Rhodium plating and skin reactions

The short version

Rhodium plating is a surface layer. What matters for a nickel-sensitive wearer is the metal beneath it and how long the layer lasts. DermNet’s page on jewellery allergy (retrieved 2026-11-14) puts it this way: rhodium, “a silvery-white metal related to platinum”, is often used to plate yellow gold to make white gold, and “even white gold with nickel is often rhodium-plated to make it appear whiter and shinier.” The initial plating protects against any nickel in the gold, it says, but “it eventually wears off over months or years”, leaving the nickel-alloyed white gold against the skin.

We work from documents and have not tested any jewellery. This page covers what the sources say about plating, what they say about rhodium as an allergen in its own right, and what they leave out.

Why white gold gets plated

Gold alloys get their colour from the metals mixed in. DermNet says yellow gold may be alloyed with silver and copper, while white gold is usually alloyed with nickel, and that alternatives based on palladium, silver and other white metals are available. Rhodium plating is the finishing step that makes the pale alloy look whiter. For how karat and alloy relate to nickel, see gold karats and nickel; for palladium-based alloys, see palladium in jewellery.

How long the plating lasts

The only statement the sources give is DermNet’s: months or years, after which the coating “will eventually wear off and need re-plating.” We found no source with a thickness figure, a wear rate, or a comparison between ring and earring wear. Treat any specific lifespan claim you meet in a listing as unsourced here. Whether a given piece is plated, and how thickly, is a question for the maker.

What the studies say about nickel under plating

A 1996 British Journal of Dermatology study (PMID 8746329) patch-tested nickel-containing alloys and coatings on 100 nickel-sensitive people and 20 nickel-negative controls. Its abstract reports that nickel interliners under gold, silver or chromium plating, nickel-silver and some white-gold alloys caused positive patch-test reactions, and that three non-plated stainless-steel alloys did not. Rhodium is not among the platings named, so it cannot be read as a result for rhodium specifically. It does show the general point: a coating over nickel is not the same as no nickel.

The study also fed the EU test methods. The EU restriction text (REACH Annex XVII, entry 27) says that where a non-nickel coating is used on articles in direct and prolonged skin contact, it must be sufficient that nickel release stays at or below 0.5 micrograms per square centimetre per week for at least two years of normal use; for post assemblies inserted into pierced ears the limit is 0.2. A 1996 review of the directive (PMID 9007370) adds that the 0.5 level is one below which a minority of nickel-allergic people react, but that some nickel-sensitive individuals still react at or below it. That makes the EU rule a floor, not a promise, and this site does not treat meeting it as a hypoallergenic claim. See our EU nickel rule guide. The CPSC’s jewelry FAQ, as read, lists no mandatory US federal jewelry-specific nickel requirement.

Can rhodium itself cause a reaction?

Yes, but the sources show it as uncommon. The evidence read:

• A 1991 case report (PMID 1838314) describes occupational allergic contact dermatitis from rhodium sulphate and cobalt chloride in a 29-year-old woman working in a goldsmith’s workshop.
• A 1993 review (PMID 8510347) lists rhodium among metals that cause allergic contact dermatitis through occupational exposure.
• A 2008 review (PMID 18782021) lists rhodium among metals that were emerging causes of skin hypersensitivity, alongside aluminium, cobalt, gold, palladium, platinum and titanium.
• A 2022 case report (PMID 35496506) of a knee-implant patient notes patch-test reactions to a range of metals, with rhodium among the weaker (+) reactions. It concerns implants, not jewellery.
• A 2008 in vitro study (PMID 18482439) of 40 contact dermatitis patients examined cytokine responses to nickel, palladium and rhodium. It is a laboratory study, and its abstract does not report a jewellery finding for rhodium.
• A 2000 study (PMID 11140383) patch- and prick-tested 800 patients with dermatitis or urticaria, and reports that platinum-group salts, including rhodium chloride, did not produce positive reactions in people without occupational exposure. It also reports cross-reactions between platinum, palladium, iridium and rhodium in exposed workers.

Taken together, rhodium is a recognised but rare sensitiser, with most documented cases in occupational settings. DermNet nonetheless describes rhodium or platinum plating as a way to plate a piece “in a non-allergic metal”, which is a general description that does not predict any one person’s response. A dermatologist’s patch test is how metal allergy is established. For platinum itself see platinum and skin reactions.

Putting it together when you shop

• A rhodium-plated piece tells you the surface metal, not the alloy under it. Ask the maker which metals are in the base.
• If you react to nickel, a palladium-based white gold or an unplated metal avoids the question of when the coating wears through; this follows from DermNet’s description of the alloys and the coating, and the sources do not rank the options by reaction rates. Compare gold plated, gold filled and vermeil for how plating terms are defined in the US FTC guides.
• A nickel spot test has its own limits; see nickel spot test for jewellery.
• Rings sit against skin for years, so wear matters most there; see nickel-free wedding and engagement rings. Earrings are covered in hypoallergenic gold earrings and nickel-free earrings, and the wider category in hypoallergenic jewellery.
• Green or dark skin marks are a different cause; see why jewellery turns skin green. For what the word means, see what is hypoallergenic jewellery and nickel allergy and jewellery.

For questions about your own skin, ask a dermatologist or an allergy society.

What we don’t fully know

There is no source here for plating thickness, expected lifespan, or nickel release from rhodium-plated white gold, and none for how common rhodium allergy is among jewellery wearers. We have not named the EU glossary (INCI) entry for rhodium: the EU cosmetic ingredient glossary text we searched had no exact RHODIUM entry, and jewellery is not governed by it. The rest is in the unknowns list on this page.