Yokota Kozo, Johyama Yasushi, Kunitani Yukihiro, Michitsuji Hiromi, Yamada Seiji
Matsushita Science Center of Industrial Hygiene, 7-6 Tonoshima-cho, Kadoma, Osaka 571-0045, Japan.
Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2007 May;80(6):527-31. doi: 10.1007/s00420-006-0159-7. Epub 2006 Nov 29.
To estimate the relationship between Ni concentrations in the ambient air and in the urine, at a battery plant using nickel hydroxide.
Workers occupationally exposed to a mixture of nickel hydroxide, metallic cobalt and cobalt oxyhydroxide dust were studied during two consecutive workdays. Air levels of Ni and Co in total dust were determined by personal sampling in the breathing zone. Both metals in air were sampled by Teflon binder filters and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma absorption emission spectrophotometry. Urine was collected from 16 workers immediately before and after the work shift. Urinary Ni and Co concentrations were measured by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry.
A poor correlation was seen between Co in the air and in post-shift urine (r = 0.491; P < 0.01), and no correlation was found between Ni in the air and in post-shift urine (r = 0.272; P = 0.15), probably due to the use of respiratory protection. The subjects were exposed to higher levels of Ni than Co (Ni (mg/m(3)) = -0.02 + 7.41 Co (mg/m(3)), r = 0.979, P < 0.0001). Thus, exposure to Co at 0.1 mg/m(3) should produce a Ni level of 0.7 mg/m(3). According to section XIII of the German list of MAK and BAT Values, a relationship between exposure to Co and urinary Co excretion, Co (microg/l) = 600 Co (mg/m(3)), has been established and the relationship between soluble or insoluble Ni salts in the air and Ni in urine was as follows: Ni (microg/l) = 10 + 600 Ni (mg/m(3)) or Ni (microg/l) = 7.5 + 75 Ni (mg/m(3)). Assuming nickel hydroxide to be soluble and to be insoluble, the Ni concentrations corresponding to Ni exposure at 0.7 mg/m(3) were calculated as 430 and 60 microg Ni/l, respectively. Similarly, exposure to Co at 0.1 mg/m(3) should result in Co urinary concentrations of 60 microg Co/l. On the other hand, a good correlation was found between Co and Ni in post-shift urine (Ni (microg/l) = 9.9 + 0.343 Co (microg/l), r = 0.833, P < 0.0001). On the basis of this relationship, the corresponding value found in our study was 0.343 x 60 microg Co/l + 9.9 = 30.5 microg Ni/l. This value was close to that calculated by the equation for a group of insoluble compounds, but about 14 times lower than that calculated by the equation for a group of soluble compounds.
Our results suggest that exposure to nickel hydroxide yields lower urine nickel concentrations than the very soluble nickel salts, and that the grouping of nickel hydroxide might be reevaluated. Therefore, to evaluate conclusively the relationship between nickel hydroxide dust in the air and Ni in post-shift urine, further studies are necessary.
评估一家使用氢氧化镍的电池厂中，环境空气中镍浓度与尿液中镍浓度之间的关系。
对连续两个工作日内职业性接触氢氧化镍、金属钴和羟基氧化钴粉尘混合物的工人进行研究。通过在呼吸区进行个人采样来测定总粉尘中镍和钴的空气浓度。空气中的这两种金属均通过聚四氟乙烯粘结剂过滤器进行采样，并采用电感耦合等离子体吸收发射分光光度法进行分析。在轮班前和轮班后立即从16名工人那里收集尿液。通过电热原子吸收光谱法测量尿镍和尿钴浓度。
空气中的钴与轮班后尿液中的钴之间相关性较差（r = 0.491；P < 0.01），空气中的镍与轮班后尿液中的镍之间未发现相关性（r = 0.272；P = 0.15），这可能是由于使用了呼吸防护设备。受试者接触的镍水平高于钴（镍（mg/m³）= -0.02 + 7.41钴（mg/m³），r = 0.979，P < 0.0001）。因此，接触0.1 mg/m³的钴应产生0.7 mg/m³的镍水平。根据德国MAK和BAT值列表第十三节，已确定接触钴与尿钴排泄之间的关系为：钴（μg/l）= 600钴（mg/m³），并且空气中可溶性或不溶性镍盐与尿液中镍之间的关系如下：镍（μg/l）= 10 + 600镍（mg/m³）或镍（μg/l）= 7.5 + 75镍（mg/m³）。假设氢氧化镍是可溶的和不可溶的，计算得出对应于0.7 mg/m³镍暴露的镍浓度分别为430和60 μg镍/升。同样，接触0.1 mg/m³的钴应导致尿钴浓度为60 μg钴/升。另一方面，在轮班后尿液中发现钴与镍之间存在良好的相关性（镍（μg/l）= 9.9 + 0.343钴（μg/l），r = 0.833，P < 0.0001）。基于这种关系，在我们的研究中发现的对应值为0.343×60 μg钴/升 + 9.9 = 30.5 μg镍/升。该值接近一组不溶性化合物方程计算得出的值，但比一组可溶性化合物方程计算得出的值低约14倍。
我们的结果表明，接触氢氧化镍产生的尿镍浓度低于极易溶的镍盐，并且可能需要重新评估氢氧化镍的分类。因此，为了最终评估空气中氢氧化镍粉尘与轮班后尿液中镍之间的关系，有必要进行进一步研究。
