European hospitals as a source for platinum in the environment in comparison with other sources.

The concentration of platinum in the sewage of five European hospitals originating from excreted antineoplastic drugs, cisplatin and carboplatin, was analyzed in a short term study to provide an order of magnitude of Pt emissions from hospitals into aquatic environments. These emissions were compared with a rough estimation of emissions by cars. The average daily concentrations in the hospital effluents were approximately < 10-601 ng l-1 Pt (20-3580 ng l-1 in 2-h mixed samples). As expected from consumption data, the daily average concentrations should range from < 10-710 ng l-1 Pt. Platinum emitted by hospitals is 3.3-12.3% (1.3-14.3 kg per year) the estimated amount emitted by cars equipped with catalytic converters in the different European countries. Compared to platinum emissions from other sources, the effluents of hospitals are a minor source of platinum in municipal sewage, but they should not to be disregarded. Other possible sources for the emission of platinum into the environment should be considered in further investigations.

Anthropogenic platinum fluxes: Quantification of sources and sinks, and outlook.

Employing the data available to date, anthropogenic Pt fluxes are calculated for Germany with special emphasis on the Pt emitted by cars equipped with catalytic converters. Pt fluxes are quantified using five different methods (street deposition, automobile emission rate, sewage sludges, atmospheric load, industrial consumption). During the first and the second methods, approx. 100 kg of emitted Pt are seen to result for both for the mid 1990's. Up to the year 2018, a total of 2100 kg of Pt will be emitted by cars equipped with catalytic converters. The diffuse atmospheric Pt deposition amounts to 0.73 - 4.4 microg/m(2)y or 260 kg Pt/year. Industrial sources emitting Pt into the atmosphere are likely but difficult to quantify. The enrichment of Pt in soils during agriculture fertilization with sewage sludges and during diffuse atmospheric deposition result in a level of 46 - 460 ng/kg up to the year 2018. Although this is slightly below the geogenic background, a comparison with the pollution history of Pb implies that forthcoming environmental Pt enrichment should not be neglected.

Comparison of palladium and platinum in environmental matrices: Palladium pollution by automobile emissions?

A new type of automobile catalyst based on an active Pd/Rh-layer is presently being introduced into the European market. Accordingly, in order to establish baseline information, this work attempts to assess the magnitude of Pd emissions by automobile catalysts to date. Thus, a survey is presented on Pd and Pt levels detected in polluted environmental matrices (grass, soil, dust, sludges) as available from the literature. Additionally, Pd data measured by selective preconcentration/GF-AAS-detection in polluted grass, in a time series of sewage sludge ashes back to 1972, in dust, as well as in urban rain are presented. Since the data basis from the literature is partly inconsistent, the possible impact of different analytical attempts on the data is discussed. The relationship between Pt and Pd concentration from most of the results is between 5 and 10 (Pt/Pd). However, relations down to 0.04 are also reported, thus implying anthropogenic Pd input from additional sources.

Distribution of platinum group elements (Pt, Pd, Rh) in environmental and clinical matrices: Composition, analytical techniques and scientific outlook: Status report.

Trace concentrations of the platinum group elements (PGE; here: Pt, Pd and Rh) play an important role in environmental analysis and assessment. Their importance is based on 1. their increasing use as active compartments in automobile exhaust catalysts, 2. their use as cancer anti-tumor agents in medicine. Due to their allergenic and cytotoxic potential, it is necessary to improve selectivity and sensitivity during analytical investigation of matrices like soil, grass, urine or blood. This paper summarizes the present knowledge of PGE in the fields of analytical chemistry, automobile emission rates, bioavailability, toxicology and medicine.

Platinum emission rate of automobiles with catalytic converters: Comparison and assessment of results from various approaches.

Inconsistent data presently available on the platinum emission rate of cars in Germany equipped with catalytic converters are evaluated. Automobile sources of Pt other than autocatalysts are quantified and found to be 1-6 orders of magnitudes lower than the Pt emissions attributed to catalytic converters. A transfer of emission rates derived from test stand experiments to more realistic street conditions reaches 0.8 microg Pt/km. In this manner, data from test stand experiments and from environmental investigations meet in the range of 0.5-0.8 microg Pt/km.

Cadmium concentration in the renal cortex of kidney tumor patients and controls.

In this pilot study the concentration of cadmium was determined quantitatively in samples of renal cortex of 22 kidney cancer patients and 19 controls. Data on the three main sources of exposure to cadmium-diet, cigarette smoking and occupation-were obtained through interviews. No significant difference in Cd concentration between the tumor samples and the controls could be found. The mean Cd concentration was 50.9 +/- 25 mg/kg dry weight for cancer patients and 55.2 +/- 50 mg/kg for controls. Further, it was established that the age-dependent relationship for cadmium in the cortex was not valid for smokers.