Chromium, cobalt and nickel in Swedish cement, detergents, mould and cutting oils.

The concentrations of chromium, cobalt and nickel in 8 brands of Swedish cement, 19 detergents, 28 unused mould oils and 28 unused cutting fluids were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The total quantity of chromium in cement was 40-115 microgram Cr/g, whereas water-soluble chromium and chromate did not exceed 20 microgram Cr/g. The cobalt concentration was 5-16 microgram Co/g and the nickel concentration 5-59 microgram Ni/g. In detergents the nickel concentration was comparatively higher than that of chromium and cobalt. The highest value observed was 5.7 microgram Ni/g. In mould oils the concentrations were low, never exceeding 1 microgram/g. In cutting fluids the concentrations were low with the exeption of one product which contained 19.4 microgram Ni/g. The clinical implications of the results are discussed and it is pointed out that investigations of used cutting fluids can provide important information concerning possible allergy risks.