TY - JOUR
T1 - Exposure to soluble platinum salts in precious metal refinery workers over a 17-year period
AU - Smit, Lidwien A M
AU - Jacobs, José
AU - da Silva, Juliete
AU - Heederik, Dick
AU - van Rooy, Frits G
AU - Portengen, Lützen
AU - Houba, Remko
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by the International Platinum Group Metals Association (IPA). The authors declare no conflict of interest relating to the material presented in this Article. Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are solely those of the authors.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society.
PY - 2023/7/1
Y1 - 2023/7/1
N2 - BACKGROUND: Occupational exposure to soluble chlorinated platinum (Pt) salts, commonly called chloroplatinates, is a known cause of Pt salt sensitisation (PSS) and occupational asthma. We aimed to model inhalable soluble Pt salts exposure levels based on measurements in precious metal refineries for use in a retrospective cohort study on PSS.METHODS: Five platinum refineries located in the United Kingdom (3 sites), United States, and South Africa provided time weighted average inhalable soluble Pt salts exposure data, measured in 2,982 personal air samples over a 17-year period (2000-2016). We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate geometric mean (GM) exposure levels for each refinery and job title over time.RESULTS: The GM of measured exposure levels over all facilities was 92 ng/m3 with a geometric standard deviation (GSD) of 9.07. Facility-specific GMs ranged from 48 ng/m3 (GSD 15.3) to 242 ng/m3 (GSD 5.99). Exposure modelling showed that soluble Pt salts exposure levels declined approximately 10% per year in two of the five facilities, but there were no clear time trends in the other facilities. A priori specified exposure groups captured most of the between-jobs differences, which helps to accurately predict exposures for jobs with no measurement data available.CONCLUSIONS: We applied exposure modelling to estimate time, refinery, and job-specific soluble Pt salts exposures. A significant annual decline in exposure levels was observed in two of the five participating facilities. Modelled exposure levels can be linked to individual workers' job history for exposure-response analysis of PSS in an epidemiological study.
AB - BACKGROUND: Occupational exposure to soluble chlorinated platinum (Pt) salts, commonly called chloroplatinates, is a known cause of Pt salt sensitisation (PSS) and occupational asthma. We aimed to model inhalable soluble Pt salts exposure levels based on measurements in precious metal refineries for use in a retrospective cohort study on PSS.METHODS: Five platinum refineries located in the United Kingdom (3 sites), United States, and South Africa provided time weighted average inhalable soluble Pt salts exposure data, measured in 2,982 personal air samples over a 17-year period (2000-2016). We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate geometric mean (GM) exposure levels for each refinery and job title over time.RESULTS: The GM of measured exposure levels over all facilities was 92 ng/m3 with a geometric standard deviation (GSD) of 9.07. Facility-specific GMs ranged from 48 ng/m3 (GSD 15.3) to 242 ng/m3 (GSD 5.99). Exposure modelling showed that soluble Pt salts exposure levels declined approximately 10% per year in two of the five facilities, but there were no clear time trends in the other facilities. A priori specified exposure groups captured most of the between-jobs differences, which helps to accurately predict exposures for jobs with no measurement data available.CONCLUSIONS: We applied exposure modelling to estimate time, refinery, and job-specific soluble Pt salts exposures. A significant annual decline in exposure levels was observed in two of the five participating facilities. Modelled exposure levels can be linked to individual workers' job history for exposure-response analysis of PSS in an epidemiological study.
KW - chloroplatinate exposure
KW - exposure modelling
KW - job history
KW - low molecular weight allergens
KW - occupational allergy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85164254138&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/annweh/wxad023
DO - 10.1093/annweh/wxad023
M3 - Article
C2 - 37104665
SN - 2398-7308
VL - 67
SP - 720
EP - 730
JO - Annals of Work Exposures and Health
JF - Annals of Work Exposures and Health
IS - 6
M1 - wxad023
ER -