Assessment of exposure to platinum-group metals in urban children

Catalytic converters for automotive traction raise some concern for human health and the environment, due to the release of Pd, Pt and Rh (Pt-Group Metals, PGMs). In fact, the thermal and mechanical conditions under which such devices work (including abrasion effects and hot-temperature chemical reactions with oil fumes) can cause significant release of the PGMs to the environment and eventually affect human health. A pilot investigation was performed to assess the exposure to these metals of 310 schoolchildren aged between 6 and 10 years from the urban and sub-urban area of Rome. All determinations were performed by high-resolution magnetic-sector inductively-coupled plasma-mass spectrometry after UV irradiation of the samples. The mean concentration values of these metals in urine were found to be (in ng/g creatinine) 7.5 +/- 5.4 for Pd, 0.9 +/- 1.1 for Pt and 8.5 +/- 8.0 for Rh. Urine concentrations of Pd and Rh (but not Pt) were found to be strongly associated with traffic density in the area of residence. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.