Occupational chronic exposure to metals

✍ Scribed by J. Angerer; G. Lehnert

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 424 KB
• Volume: 62
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0340-0131
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00397842

✦ Synopsis

Stainless steel welders (n = 103) were examined To estimate external exposure, personal air sampling was used Internal exposure was quantified by the determination of nickel levels in erythrocytes, plasma and urine Men and women (n = 123) were examined for control purposes In the plasma and erythrocytes of the controls the nickel concentration was below the level of detection (< 1 8 jtg/l) The element concentrations in urine were between < O 1 and 13.3 jig/l Of the controls 95 % showed nickel levels in urine below 2 2 jg/l (reference value) The average concentration of nickel in the air was 93 + 81 g/m 3 . The average concentration of nickel in the plasma samples was 4 9 + 4 0 jg/l ( 95th percentile 12 8 pg/l). In erythrocytes nickel could not be detected The nickel concentrations in the urine of the welders were 18.5 ± 28 5 pg/l on average ( 95th percentile 52 5 lg/l). Only a weak correlation between the nickel levels of plasma and urine could be detected (Curine = 2 07 + 8.45 Cplasma; r = 0 294 ; p < 0 01) Based on our results and on the reported literature a future limit value for the nickel concentration in urine should lay between 30 and 50 pg/l This value corresponds to an external exposure of 500 Ag nickel per cubic metre.