Platinum

Abstract

Platinum is ubiquitous in the human environment and is present in plants and animals, human food chains, airborne particles in inner‐city areas, and factory environments. It is a rare transitional metal with many uses in medicine, dentistry, and industrial applications. These include catalytic converters, electrical engineering, computers, space science, chemical syntheses, and jewelry. Platinum forms numerous durable alloys for clinical and industrial applications, and very many inorganic and organic compounds some of which are profound oxidizing agents and corrosive to skin and eyes. Others like the co‐ordination complexes, which are antimitotic through DNA binding, are potent anticancer drugs. The toxicity profile for platinum compounds is incomplete but permitted exposure levels (PEL) are shown for key materials. Respiratory distress, allergy, and hypersensitivity are principal hazards encountered through inhalation of airborne nanoparticles in mining, recycling, and emissions from vehicle exhaust systems. Metabolic pathways and excretion patterns involving liver and kidneys are discussed in relation to population studies. Urine analyses are clinical measures of platinum exposure. The anticancer/antimitotic drugs including cis ‐platin and carboplatin are clinically efficacious but cause nephrotoxicity, ear and sensi‐neural hearing, and possible carcinogenicity. Children are more sensitive. Experiments in animal models and cultured cells have contributed little in the understanding of hazards associated with platinum and related compounds. Whilst evidence of mutagenicity, DNA binding, clastogenicity is presented in standard laboratory screens, the 15th National Toxicology Program, Report on Carcinogens (2021) states that cis ‐platin should be reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen, despite no conclusive human epidemiological studies being available.