URINARY-EXCRETION OF PLATINUM FROM PLATINUM INDUSTRY WORKERS

Objectives-Assessment of level of exposure to platinum and platinum co ncentration in urine from platinum industry workers to evaluate intern al exposures and excretion kinetics. Methods-Platinum concentrations i n urine samples from 34 workers were measured by adsorptive voltammetr y after UV-photolysis. Morning and evening samples were taken two to s ix times during six months. Individual exposures were assessed by pers onal air sampling. Also, two male volunteers were exposed to platinum dust for four hours at a typical platinum refinery workplace. Results- Urinary platinum excretion after a shift in platinum industry workers was found to be up to 6270 ng/g creatinine-that is, 1000 times above t he median value of unexposed people. Urinary excretion reached the max imum nearly 10 hours after inhalative exposure to dust containing plat inum. Elimination corresponded to a first halflife of about 50 (95% co nfidence interval (95% CI) 36 to 66) hours, but there were indications that a part of the incorporated platinum is stored longer. The amount of urinary platinum excretion showed a close correlation with the exp osure level monitored by personal air sampling. Conclusions-A newly de veloped analytical method enabled the detection of even natural backgr ound concentrations of platinum. Thus, increased urinary platinum conc entrations could be detected early, which is important to avoid damagi ng health of exposed workers.