On November 5th 2020, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published an update on the risk assessment of nickel in food and drinking water. Based on newly available scientific data, EFSA revised the formerly established tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 2.8 µg nickel/kg body weight (bw)/day and derived a new TDI of 13 µg nickel/kg bw/day. Furthermore, EFSA derived a health-based guidance value for nickel sensitive humans (systemic contact dermatitis). (EFSA Journal 2020;18(11):6268)

The risk assessment conducted by EFSA indicates an exceedances of the health-based guidance values for some high consuming groups in some surveys, which may raise health concerns in these population groups.

No health concerns from the consumption of drinking water have been identified by EFSA.