Dermatologists say that the euro can make you sick

Gaetano Esposito holds his euro-pizza in his Naples restaurant in southern Italy on Saturday. While Esposito's pizza has no dangerous side affects for most people, doctors say that the actual currency may cause skin problems. PHOTO: AP

It has been accused of crushing national identity, pushing up prices and being the best friend of fraudsters and drug barons. But now the euro -- Europe's new single currency -- faces its toughest criticism: It can make you ill.

After years of anticipation, the coins and notes will be launched in 12 countries tomorrow. But millions of people who eagerly grab their new coins could see their hands turn into a scaly, diseased mass after minutes.

The British Journal of Dermatology warns the coins could cause eczma among 45 million people. Austrian doctors have branded them a "very dirty currency." City traders have called the euro, which has fallen sharply in value, a "toilet currency" because it has gone down the pan.

Bank tellers and shop assistants have been advised to wear gloves for work, or to get a new job. The 1 and 2 coins contain high levels of nickel. European bureaucrats agreed to include the metal despite warnings that allergy to nickel affects up to one in seven people, particularly women.

Medical researchers have conducted tests showing the coins can make far more people sick than currencies they replace.

But a spokesman for the European Commission said: "Nickel is used extensively in a number of national currencies already -- there is no scientific evidence there will be any medical effects."

But Dominic Cummings, chief executive of the `No' Campaign, gloated: "This is one of many balls-ups in the brief history of the euro."