Nickel (CED0000037)

Record Information

Version

1.0

Creation Date

2009-03-06 18:57:59 UTC

Update Date

2026-05-14 19:42:06 UTC

Accession Number

CHEM000049

Identification

Common Name

Nickel

Class

Small Molecule

Description

Nickel belongs to the homogeneous transition metal compounds, a class of homogeneous metal compounds within the inorganic compounds. It is an exogenous solid with the formula Ni and an average molecular weight of 58.69 g/mol. Industrially, nickel is used as an alloying element, plating agent, oxidizing agent, pigment, degradant/impurity, and as processing aids not otherwise specified. Biologically, it acts as a micronutrient, allergen, epitope, and Lewis acid (PMC10278084). Nickel is found in or released from 38 recorded sources, including household items such as coins; food, food processing and cookware (including food contact materials, food preservation, processing meats, and fermentation processes for beer); building and construction materials like ladders, stairs, ramps, and sunshades; household cleaning and consumer products such as soap detergents, bleaching agents, perfumes within detergents and soaps, and smoking requisites; as well as electrical and electronic equipment including amplifiers, antennas, auxiliary devices, coils, and communication cables or conductors. It is also present in polypropylene and polystyrene, and released in polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyvinyl chloride. Exposure routes include oral, inhalation, and touch. Nickel interacts with 13 recorded protein targets. It substitutes for other essential elements in enzymes such as calcineurin (PPP3CA, PPP3R1, PPP3R2) and substitutes for iron in hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylases (EGLN1, EGLN2, EGLN3), which causes the accumulation of hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha and hypoxia-mimic stress. Nickel substitutes for iron in alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases, inhibiting DNA repair (ALKBH3, ALKBH2), and inhibits demethylation activity by substituting for iron in jmjC domain-containing histone demethylation proteins. Additionally, nickel has a high affinity for chromatin proteins, specifically protamines and histones (H1-4, H2BC4), resulting in DNA hypermethylation, gene silencing, condensation, and inhibition of histone acetylation. Other targets include APP, HDAC8, and PRNP.

Contaminant Type

Food Toxin
Household Toxin
Human Neurotoxin
Industrial/Workplace Toxin
Inorganic Compound
Metabolite
Metal
Natural Compound
Nickel Compound
Pollutant

Chemical Structure

MOL SDF PDB SMILES InChI

Synonyms

Value	Source
Ni2+	ChEBI
Ni(2+)	ChEBI
NICKEL (II) ion	ChEBI
Nickel, ion (ni2+)	ChEBI
Nickelous ion	ChEBI
Ni(II)	Kegg
Carbonyl nickel powder	HMDB
Malleable nickel	HMDB
NI	HMDB
Nichel	HMDB
Nickel 200	HMDB
Nickel 201	HMDB
Nickel 204	HMDB
Nickel 205	HMDB
Nickel 211	HMDB
Nickel 212	HMDB
Nickel 213	HMDB
Nickel 222	HMDB
Nickel 223	HMDB
Nickel 229	HMDB
Nickel 270	HMDB
Nickel particles	HMDB
Nickel sponge	HMDB
Raney alloy	HMDB
Raney nickel	HMDB

Chemical Formula

Average Molecular Mass

58.693 g/mol

Monoisotopic Mass

57.935 g/mol

CAS Registry Number

7440-02-0

IUPAC Name

nickel(2+) ion

Traditional Name

nickel(2+) ion

SMILES

[Ni++]

InChI Identifier

InChI=1S/Ni/q+2

InChI Key

VEQPNABPJHWNSG-UHFFFAOYSA-N

Chemical Taxonomy

Description

Belongs to the class of inorganic compounds known as homogeneous transition metal compounds. These are inorganic compounds containing only metal atoms,with the largest atom being a transition metal atom.

Kingdom

Inorganic compounds

Super Class

Homogeneous metal compounds

Class

Homogeneous transition metal compounds

Sub Class

Not Available

Direct Parent

Homogeneous transition metal compounds

Alternative Parents

Inorganic nickel compounds

Substituents

Homogeneous transition metal
Inorganic nickel compound

Molecular Framework

Not Available

External Descriptors

monoatomic dication (CHEBI:49786 )
divalent metal cation (CHEBI:49786 )
nickel cation (CHEBI:49786 )
a cation (NI+2 )

Biological Properties

Status

Detected and Not Quantified

Origin

Exogenous

Cellular Locations

Cytoplasm
Extracellular

Biofluid Locations

Not Available

Tissue Locations

Not Available

Applications

Not Available

Biological Roles

Chemical Roles

Not Available

Organoleptic Effects

Not Available

Physical Properties

State

Solid

Appearance

Silvery-white metallic solid.

Experimental Properties

Property	Value
Melting Point	1455°C
Boiling Point	Not Available
Solubility	Not Available

Predicted Properties

Property	Value	Source
logP	0.16	ChemAxon
Physiological Charge	2	ChemAxon
Hydrogen Acceptor Count	0	ChemAxon
Hydrogen Donor Count	0	ChemAxon
Polar Surface Area	0 Å²	ChemAxon
Rotatable Bond Count	0	ChemAxon
Refractivity	0 m³·mol⁻¹	ChemAxon
Polarizability	1.78 Å³	ChemAxon
Number of Rings	0	ChemAxon
Bioavailability	Yes	ChemAxon
Rule of Five	Yes	ChemAxon
Ghose Filter	No	ChemAxon
Veber's Rule	Yes	ChemAxon
MDDR-like Rule	No	ChemAxon

Spectra

Spectrum Type	Description	Splash Key	Deposition Date	View
Predicted LC-MS/MS	Predicted LC-MS/MS Spectrum	splash10-0a4i-9000000000-08256b3c9e2cc1750f60	Not Available	View Spectrum
Predicted LC-MS/MS	Predicted LC-MS/MS Spectrum	splash10-0a4i-9000000000-08256b3c9e2cc1750f60	Not Available	View Spectrum
Predicted LC-MS/MS	Predicted LC-MS/MS Spectrum	splash10-0a4i-9000000000-08256b3c9e2cc1750f60	Not Available	View Spectrum
Predicted LC-MS/MS	Predicted LC-MS/MS Spectrum	splash10-0a4i-9000000000-4648ffc6f53552c41503	Not Available	View Spectrum
Predicted LC-MS/MS	Predicted LC-MS/MS Spectrum	splash10-0a4i-9000000000-4648ffc6f53552c41503	Not Available	View Spectrum
Predicted LC-MS/MS	Predicted LC-MS/MS Spectrum	splash10-0a4i-9000000000-4648ffc6f53552c41503	Not Available	View Spectrum

Toxicity Profile

Mechanism of Toxicity

Nickel is known to substitute for other essential elements in certain enzmes, such as calcineurin. It is genotoxic, and some nickel compounds have been shown to promote cell proliferation. Nickel has a high affinity for chromatin proteins, particularly histones and protamines. The complexing of nickel ions with heterochromatin results in a number of alterations including condensation, DNA hypermethylation, gene silencing, and inhibition of histone acetylation, which have been shown to disturb gene expression. Nickel has also been shown to alter several transcription factors, including hypoxia-inducible transcription factor, activating transcription factor, and NF-KB transcription factor. There is also evidence that nickel ions inhibit DNA repair, either by directly inhibiting DNA repair enzymes or competing with zinc ions for binding to zinc-finger DNA binding proteins, resulting in structural changes in DNA that prevent repair enzymes from binding. Nickel ions can also complex with a number of cellular ligands including amino acids, peptides, and proteins resulting in the generation of oxygen radicals, which induce base damage, DNA strand breaks, and DNA protein crosslinks. (13, 1)

Carcinogenicity (IARC Classification)

Metallic nickel is possibly carcinogenic to humons (Group 2B). Nickel compounds are carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). (16)

Minimum Risk Level

Intermediate Inhalation: 0.0002 mg/m3 (15) Chronic Inhalation: 0.00009 mg/m3 (15)

Symptoms

Symptoms of nickel poisoning include headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, irritability, and difficulty sleeping, followed by chest pains, sweating, rapid heart beat, and a dry cough. (14)

Treatment

Excess exposure to nickel is usually handled by preventing further exposure and symptomatic treatment. Nickel poisoning may also be treated using chelation therapy with sodium diethyldithiocarbamate. (14)

Toxicity Values

Toxicity Value	Unit	Value Range	Organism	Dose Descriptor	Route of Exposure	Predicted or Experimental	Reference
250.0	mg/kg	Not Available	Rat	LD50	Intraperitoneal	experimental	T26

Health Effects

Health Effect	Relationship	Direction	Reference

Exposure Sources

Source ID	Source	Sector	Reference
233	Brushes	Personal care & cosmetics	Not Available
494	Food contact materials	Food, food processing & cookware	Not Available
498	Ladders	Building & Construction	Not Available
500	Stairs And Ramps	Building & Construction	Not Available
501	Sunshades Awnings Or Outside Screens	Building & Construction	Not Available
502	Sunshades Awnings Or Outside Screens	Building & Construction	Not Available
505	Amplifiers	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
506	Antennas	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
507	Auxiliary Devices	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
508	Coils	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
510	Communication Cables Or Conductors	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
511	Conductors Or Conductive Bodies Characterised By The Conductive Materials	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
513	Cores Yokes Or Armatures	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
514	Discharge Lamps	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
517	Electric Switches	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
518	Electrically Stimulated Smoking Devices	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
519	Electrodes	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
520	Emergency Protective Devices	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
521	Fixed Capacitors And Their Manufacture	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
523	Gas Filled Discharge Tubes With Solid Cathode	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
524	Hybrid Capacitors	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
527	Magnets	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
529	Power Cables	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
530	Radio Transmission Systems	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
531	Relays	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
533	Sparking Plugs	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
537	Television Systems	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
538	Thin Magnetic Films	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
540	X Ray Tubes	Electrical & Electronic Equipment	Not Available
544	Fermentation Processes For Beer	Food, food processing & cookware	Not Available
545	Food Preservation	Food, food processing & cookware	Not Available
552	Processing Meats	Food, food processing & cookware	Not Available
555	Bleaching Agents	Household cleaning & consumer products	Not Available
556	Cigar Cigarettes	Household cleaning & consumer products	Not Available
560	Other Smoking Requisites	Household cleaning & consumer products	Not Available
561	Perfumes Within Detergents And Soaps	Household cleaning & consumer products	Not Available
563	Soap Detergents	Household cleaning & consumer products	Not Available
569	Tobacco Smoke Filters	Household cleaning & consumer products	Not Available
571	Coins	Household items	Not Available
579	Manufacture Of Iron Or Steel	Industrial manufacturing & chemical processing	Not Available
580	Manufacture Preparation Of Tobacco Products	Industrial manufacturing & chemical processing	Not Available
581	Paper Making Machines	Industrial manufacturing & chemical processing	Not Available
596	Acaricides	Agriculture & land management	Not Available
600	Herbicides And Algicides	Agriculture & land management	Not Available
606	Plant Growth Regulators	Agriculture & land management	Not Available
610	Aftersun Products	Personal care & cosmetics	Not Available
611	Anti Perspirants Or Body Deoderants	Personal care & cosmetics	Not Available
612	Body Washing Or Cleaning Implements	Personal care & cosmetics	Not Available
614	Essential Oils Or Perfumes	Personal care & cosmetics	Not Available
615	Eye Makeup Products	Personal care & cosmetics	Not Available
618	Lip Makeup Products	Personal care & cosmetics	Not Available
619	Manicure Pedicure	Personal care & cosmetics	Not Available
630	Toys	Recreation & sports surfaces	Not Available
632	Apparel	Textiles, leather & furnishings	Not Available
633	Azo Dyes	Textiles, leather & furnishings	Not Available
637	Collar Studs	Textiles, leather & furnishings	Not Available
638	Decorating Textiles	Textiles, leather & furnishings	Not Available
639	Degreasing Leather	Textiles, leather & furnishings	Not Available
642	Footwear	Textiles, leather & furnishings	Not Available
652	Ropes	Textiles, leather & furnishings	Not Available
655	Slide Fasteners	Textiles, leather & furnishings	Not Available
657	Surface Finishing Of Leather	Textiles, leather & furnishings	Not Available
658	Touch Fasteners	Textiles, leather & furnishings	Not Available
662	Yarns Or Threads	Textiles, leather & furnishings	Not Available

Pathways

0 pathways

No pathways found

No metabolic pathways have been associated with this synthetic chemical

Targets

Structure	Protein	UniProt ID	Organism	Relationship	Details
Click to view 3D structure	DNA oxidative demethylase ALKBH2	Q6NS38	Humans	Known	Nickel substitutes for iron in alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases, inhibiting DNA repair. (A109)
Click to view 3D structure	Alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase alkB homolog 3	Q96Q83	Humans	Known	Nickel substitutes for iron in alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases, inhibiting DNA repair. (A109)
Click to view 3D structure	Amyloid-beta precursor protein	P05067	Humans	Known	Not Available
Click to view 3D structure	Calcineurin subunit B type 1	P63098	Humans	Known	Nickel is known to substitute for other essential elements in certain enzmes, such as calcineurin. (A40)
Click to view 3D structure	Calcineurin subunit B type 2	Q96LZ3	Humans	Known	Nickel is known to substitute for other essential elements in certain enzmes, such as calcineurin. (A40)
Click to view 3D structure	Egl nine homolog 1	Q9GZT9	Humans	Known	Nickel substitutes for iron in hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylases, inhibiting their enzyme activity. This results in the accumulation of hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha, causing hypoxia-mimic stress. (A109)
Click to view 3D structure	Prolyl hydroxylase EGLN2	Q96KS0	Humans	Known	Nickel substitutes for iron in hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylases, inhibiting their enzyme activity. This results in the accumulation of hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha, causing hypoxia-mimic stress. (A109)
Click to view 3D structure	Prolyl hydroxylase EGLN3	Q9H6Z9	Humans	Known	Nickel substitutes for iron in hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylases, inhibiting their enzyme activity. This results in the accumulation of hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha, causing hypoxia-mimic stress. (A109)
Click to view 3D structure	Histone H1.4	P10412	Humans	Known	Nickel has a high affinity for chromatin proteins, particularly histones and protamines. The complexing of nickel ions with heterochromatin results in a number of alterations including condensation, DNA hypermethylation, gene silencing, and inhibition of histone acetylation, which have been shown to disturb gene expression. (L41)
Click to view 3D structure	Histone H2B type 1-C/E/F/G/I	P62807	Humans	Known	Nickel has a high affinity for chromatin proteins, particularly histones and protamines. The complexing of nickel ions with heterochromatin results in a number of alterations including condensation, DNA hypermethylation, gene silencing, and inhibition of histone acetylation, which have been shown to disturb gene expression. (L41)
Click to view 3D structure	Histone deacetylase 8	Q9BY41	Humans	Known	Not Available
Click to view 3D structure	Major prion protein	P04156	Humans	Known	Not Available
Click to view 3D structure	Protein phosphatase 3 catalytic subunit alpha	Q08209	Humans	Known	Nickel is known to substitute for other essential elements in certain enzmes, such as calcineurin. (A40)

Concentrations

Not Available

External Links

DrugBank ID

Not Available

HMDB ID

HMDB0002457

FooDB ID

FDB013444

Phenol Explorer ID

Not Available

KNApSAcK ID

Not Available

BiGG ID

Not Available

BioCyc ID

Not Available

METLIN ID

Not Available

PDB ID

Not Available

Wikipedia Link

Chemspider ID

ChEBI ID

PubChem Compound ID

Kegg Compound ID

YMDB ID

Not Available

ECMDB ID

ECMDB21391

References

Synthesis Reference

Lightner, David A.; Crist, B. Vincent; Kalyanam, Nagabushanam; May, Leslie M.; Jackman, Dennis E. The octant rule. 15. Antioctant effects: synthesis and circular dichroism of 2-exo- and 2-endo-alkylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-7-ones and bicyclo[3.2.1]octan-8-one

MSDS

Not Available

General References

1. Lightner, David A.; Crist, B. Vincent; Kalyanam, Nagabushanam; May, Leslie M.; Jackman, Dennis E. The octant rule. 15. Antioctant effects: synthesis and circular dichroism of 2-exo- and 2-endo-alkylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-7-ones and bicyclo[3.2.1]octan-8-one. J. Org. Chem. 1985,50, 3867-3878. DOI: 10.1021/jo00220a037

2. Patricia Cava-Montesinos, M. Luisa Cervera Agustín Pastor Miguel de la Guardia. 2005. Room temperature acid sonication ICP-MS multielemental analysis of milk.Analytica Chimica Acta Volume 531, Issue 1, Pages 111-123

3. Fooddata+, The Technical University of Denmark (DTU): https://frida.fooddata.dk/QueryFood.php?fn=milk&lang=en

4. Lightner, David A.; Crist, B. Vincent; Kalyanam, Nagabushanam; May, Leslie M.; Jackman, Dennis E. The octant rule. 15. Antioctant effects: synthesis and circular dichroism of 2-exo- and 2-endo-alkylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-7-ones and bicyclo[3.2.1]octan-8-one. J. Org. Chem. 1985,50, 3867-3878. DOI: 10.1021/jo00220a037

5. Nielsen FH: How should dietary guidance be given for mineral elements with beneficial actions or suspected of being essential? J Nutr. 1996 Sep;126(9 Suppl):2377S-2385S.

6. Biego GH, Joyeux M, Hartemann P, Debry G: Daily intake of essential minerals and metallic micropollutants from foods in France. Sci Total Environ. 1998 Jun 30;217(1-2):27-36.

7. Uthus EO, Seaborn CD: Deliberations and evaluations of the approaches, endpoints and paradigms for dietary recommendations of the other trace elements. J Nutr. 1996 Sep;126(9 Suppl):2452S-2459S.

8. Hostynek JJ: Sensitization to nickel: etiology, epidemiology, immune reactions, prevention, and therapy. Rev Environ Health. 2006 Oct-Dec;21(4):253-80.

9. Setcos JC, Babaei-Mahani A, Silvio LD, Mjor IA, Wilson NH: The safety of nickel containing dental alloys. Dent Mater. 2006 Dec;22(12):1163-8. Epub 2006 Jan 6.

10. Brunk E, Sahoo S, Zielinski DC, Altunkaya A, Drager A, Mih N, Gatto F, Nilsson A, Preciat Gonzalez GA, Aurich MK, Prlic A, Sastry A, Danielsdottir AD, Heinken A, Noronha A, Rose PW, Burley SK, Fleming RMT, Nielsen J, Thiele I, Palsson BO: Recon3D enables a three-dimensional view of gene variation in human metabolism. Nat Biotechnol. 2018 Mar;36(3):272-281. doi: 10.1038/nbt.4072. Epub 2018 Feb 19.

11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=20456924

Nickel (CED0000037)

Structure for CHEM000049: Nickel

No pathways found

Structure