For most children, yes. Medical grade plastic earrings contain no metal, so there's no nickel in them to react to, and most children wear them without any trouble. The limit is the label. "Medical grade" has no agreed definition for jewelry, and it doesn't tell you which plastic the earring is made of or what it was tested to. Our Safety Promise explains how we answer those questions for our own earrings.
What "medical grade plastic" means on an earring
In medical manufacturing, the phrase usually describes a plastic that has passed biocompatibility testing for use in or on the body. On an earring card, it can mean that, or it can mean very little. There's no jewelry standard that a maker has to meet before using the words.
The plastics sold for earrings vary. You'll see acrylic, nylon, polycarbonate, resin and silicone, and many listings name none of them. So the useful questions are the same ones you'd ask about a metal earring:
- Which plastic is it, by name?
- What was it tested to, and can you see the result?
- Is the post the same material as the front, or is a plastic front glued onto a metal post?
That last question matters more than it sounds. Some earrings sold as plastic have a metal pin inside the post or a metal setting at the front. If her ears react to metal, ask.
Why parents choose medical grade plastic earrings for sensitive ears
The reason is a good one. Nickel allergy affects around one in five people in North America, and a child who has reacted to cheap metal earrings needs something different. A plastic earring takes metal out of the picture. For a mother whose daughter has had red, sore lobes from earring after earring, that's a calm and reasonable choice.
If that's how you came to plastic, you weren't wrong to. You found something that didn't hurt her, and that matters.
The only catch is that "no metal" isn't the only route for sensitive ears. A metal that's named exactly and tested for what it releases is another. Our article on the least irritating metal for earrings covers that side of it.
Can you be allergic to plastic earrings?
Allergy to finished, fully set plastic is uncommon. I'm not going to tell you plastic earrings cause reactions. That isn't a claim I can support. If her ear reacts to anything she's wearing, plastic or metal, her pediatrician is the right person to look at it.
What's more common with any earring, plastic included, is irritation from residue. Soap, shampoo and sweat collect behind the front and inside the back, whatever it's made of.
Is resin safe for earrings?
Resin is a plastic that's poured as a liquid and then hardens. How completely it hardens depends on who made it and how. A mass-produced resin earring and a handmade one from a craft stall can be quite different products under the same word. That's a question about the maker rather than the material, so it's worth asking how the resin was cured and what the post is made of.
Can you be allergic to silicone earring backs?
Silicone is widely used against skin and reactions to it are rare. The more practical point is what the silicone back is holding. A soft back is often a different material from the post, and sometimes from a different supplier altogether. Ask what the post is made of, because that's the part inside her ear.
Medical grade plastic earrings for kids, compared with steel and gold
| Medical grade plastic | S316L Surgical Steel | 24K Pure Gold over S316L Surgical Steel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the label usually names | "Medical grade plastic", often with no plastic named | The exact steel grade | The gold karat and the metal underneath |
| Metal in contact with her skin | None, if the post has no metal core | Steel | Gold on the surface, steel underneath |
| Nickel in the material | None | Roughly 10 to 14%, held in the alloy | In the steel core, not the surface |
| How nickel is measured | Not applicable | Nickel release testing, such as EN 1811 | Nickel release testing, such as EN 1811 |
| Weight | Very light | Light | Light |
| Wear over time | Can scratch and flex | Hard-wearing | Surface finish can wear with time |
| Plastic against her skin all day | Yes | No | No |
The table isn't a ranking. Plastic has a real advantage, which is that there's no metal in it. Metal has its own, which is that the material can be named exactly and tested for what it releases. Our article on whether "nickel free" actually means nickel free explains why release is the number that matters.
The question I keep coming back to
What follows is my own view. It's a judgement rather than a finding, so you can weigh it as one.
A plastic earring is plastic worn against her skin all day, every day, often for years. Microplastics are an active area of scientific research. In 2022, the World Health Organization reviewed the evidence on microplastics and human health and concluded that it couldn't yet draw firm conclusions, and it set out the research still needed. That review looked at food, drinking water and air, not jewelry.
Nobody has shown that a plastic earring adds anything to that picture, and I won't claim it does. But the science is still working out what plastic in the body means. So my question is a simple one. Why add one more piece of plastic to her day, worn against her skin from morning to night, while that research is still going on? A metal earring keeps plastic out of the question altogether. That's the whole of the argument.
An earring isn't a medical device. But she'll wear it in her body for decades, and that's closer to an implant than to anything else she puts on. That's why I think the material deserves a name, not a category.
Words like "medical grade" and "hypoallergenic" sound like answers and often aren't. Our article on whether "hypoallergenic" earrings are safe for sensitive ears goes through the second one.
What we do
We make earrings in two materials and no plastic. The Polished Surgical Steel range is a single material, S316L Surgical Steel, through the setting, the post and the butterfly back, with nothing plated over it. It's the same grade used in medical instruments and implants.
Our 24K Pure Gold range is finished in pure 24 karat gold with Aunix™ 24K, our engineered gold finish, which is a gold-plating process, over that same S316L Surgical Steel core.
Independently tested by SGS to ASTM F2923, CPSIA and BSEN 71-3, with nickel release not detected under EN 1811. Report BTO 341803/1, covering the setting, the post and the back.
If your daughter has been wearing plastic and you'd like to try metal again, start with one simple pair. The 4mm Ball Stud Earrings in 24K Pure Gold are a single smooth ball, with nothing set or glued. The single-material range is on the Polished Surgical Steel collection, and our guide to what "hypoallergenic" actually means on a jewelry label covers the labels around both.
Questions parents ask next
Can you shower with plastic earrings? Yes. Plastic doesn't corrode in water. Rinse soap from behind the back and dry the area afterwards, as you would with any earring.
Can you be allergic to acrylic earrings? It's uncommon with finished acrylic. If her ear reacts to any earring, take it out and ask her pediatrician.
Are plastic earrings good for a new piercing? That's a question for her piercer. Healing piercings have their own rules, and our earrings are for ears that have fully healed.
Do plastic earrings last as long as metal ones? It depends on the plastic. Plastic can scratch and flex with daily wear, where a hard metal holds its shape.
Is medical grade plastic the same as hypoallergenic? Neither term has a fixed meaning on jewelry. Both describe an intention, not a test result.
Related reading
- Does nickel free actually mean nickel free?
- Are hypoallergenic earrings safe for sensitive ears?
- What is the least irritating metal for earrings?
- What does "hypoallergenic" actually mean on a jewelry label?
About the author. Matt Westmore is the founder of purepixxi. He came to children's jewelry from manufacturing and sourcing rather than marketing, which means he has walked the factory floors and knows what is actually inside a product rather than what a label says about it. purepixxi uses two materials only, names them exactly, and has them independently tested.
