[EvaH (OP)]

Alice asks:

Is nickel more allergenic than other metals, and if so why, or is it the way we use it that results in people having skin reactions to it?

Can you help?

[Halc]

Is nickel more allergenic than other metals, and if so why, or is it the way we use it that results in people having skin reactions to it?

Only some people have Nickel reactions (and brass, other metals), but as far as I know, all have a bad reaction (death?) from prolonged exposure to say Mercury or Plutonium on the skin, so I would certainly not put Nickel at the top of that list.

[Bored chemist]

but as far as I know, all have a bad reaction (death?) from prolonged exposure to say Mercury or Plutonium on the skin,

That's not an allergic reaction.
My guess is that nickel is particularly allergenic because it forms square planar complexes.

[set fair]

Pretty sure Nickel allergy is the most common metal allergy (by a long way) but there may be others that we virtually never come into contact with.