Immediate (type I) allergic responses to platinum compounds.

A series of platinum complexes has been used for allergy tests in a number of platinum refinery workers who are known to be sensitive to hexachloroplatinate ([PtCl6]2-) salts. The results show that the allergy-eliciting compounds are confined to a very small group of ionic complexes containing reactive halogen ligands. Neutral complexes and those containing more strongly bound ligands are totally inactive. These variations in activity are interpreted in terms of established kinetic and thermodynamic parameters.