The aim of the present paper is to evaluate whether increasing environmental exposure increases the frequency of the positive prick and patch test reactions to certain chlorinated
platinum salts in patients with
dermatitis and
urticaria. 800 consecutive subjects with
contact dermatitis (n=749) and
urticaria (n=51) were variously patch and prick tested with 30
haptens of a standard series, with aqueous solutions of, respectively, hexachloroplatinic
acid (H2[PtCl6]),
potassium tetrachloroplatinate (K2[
PtCl4]),
sodium hexachloroplatinate (Na2[PtCl6]),
iridium chloride (IrCl3),
rhodium chloride (RhCl3) and
palladium chloride (
PdCl2), and with 16 common inhalants. 153 workers, variably exposed in a
platinum refinery, were patch and prick tested only with solutions containing
platinum-group elements at various concentrations and with 16 common inhalants.
Platinum-group elements did not elicit positive patch or prick test reactions in non-occupationally exposed subjects. In contrast, in exposed workers, positive patch test reactions at day 2 and at 25 min, respectively, were found in 2 subjects with hand
dermatitis and in 2 with
urticaria and
asthma. 22 out of the 153 workers, 18 of whom had
rhinitis,
asthma, and
urticaria, gave positive prick test reactions to 1 or more
salts. Furthermore, on patch and prick testing, 4 cross-reactions between
platinum,
palladium,
iridium and
rhodium were demonstrated. In conclusion, the test results demonstrate that the present concentration in the environment does not increase the incidence of reactions to
platinum salts in patients with
dermatitis and/or
urticaria. However, if the average level of environmental
platinum exposure approaches those existing in industrial settings in the future, we are going to observe more frequent health effects.