PLATINUM IN THE HUMAN DIET, BLOOD, HAIR AND EXCRETA

Baseline levels of platinum in the blood, hair and urine of 21 adults from Sydney, Australia, and three adults from the relatively unpolluted area of Lord Howe Island, Australia, were determined by adsorptive voltammetry. The median concentrations of platinum in samples from residents in Sydney were: whole blood, 0.56-mu-g Pt l-1; hair, 3.84-mu-g Pt kg-1; urine, 0.18-mu-g Pt l-1 (0.23-mu-g Pt g creatinine). Samples from residents of Lord Howe Island had platinum levels that were within the range of values of the corresponding samples from Sydney residents. For faeces samples, the median platinum concentration was 10.5-mu-g kg-1 FW. The excretion of platinum over a 4-day period was measured in one adult male. Urinary excretion of platinum was between 0.76 and 1.07-mu-g Pt day-1 and in faeces it was between 0.61 and 0.73-mu-g Pt day-1. The concentrations of platinum in a range of foodstuffs from Sydney were between 8.11-mu-g kg-1 FW for liver and 0.13-mu-g kg-1 FW for full-cream milk. This information as well as the amounts of these foods in hypothetical diets for Australians was used to calculate the total dietary intake of platinum. The average diet of a Sydney adult contains 1.44-mu-g of platinum per day (adult male, 1.73-mu-g Pt day-1; adult female, 1.15-mu-g Pt day-1). The uptake of dietary platinum from the gut was estimated to be at least 42% and, therefore, diet appears to make a substantial contribution to total platinum intake.