Gold: human exposure abd update on toxic risks
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Lansdown, ABG
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Gold is ubiquitous in the human environment and most people are in contact with it through wearing jewellery, dental devices, implants or therapies for rheumatoid arthritis. Gold is not a nutrient but people are exposed to it as a food colorant and in food chains. The present review discusses the hazards faced in personal and domestic use of gold and the far greater risks presented through occupational exposure to the metal in mining and processing gold ores. In the last situation, regular manual contact or inhalation of toxic or carcinogenic materials like mercury or arsenic respectively, presents far greater hazard and greatly complicates the evaluation of gold toxicity. The uses and risks presented by new technology and use of nanoparticulate gold in anti-cancer therapies and diagnostic medicine forms a major consideration in gold toxicity, where tissue uptake and distribution are determined largely by particle size and surface characteristics. Many human problems arise through the ability of metallic gold to induce allergic contact hypersensitivity. Whilst gold in jewellery can evoke allergic reactions, other metals such as nickel, chromium and copper present in white gold or alloys exhibit more serious clinical problems. It is concluded that toxic risks associated with gold are low in relation to the vast range of potential routes of exposure to the metal in everyday life.
Date Issued
2018-12-17
Date Acceptance
2018-07-30
Citation
Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 2018, 48 (7), pp.596-614
ISSN
1040-8444
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Start Page
596
End Page
614
Journal / Book Title
Critical Reviews in Toxicology
Volume
48
Issue
7
Copyright Statement
© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Critical Reviews in Toxicology on 17 Dec 2018, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408444.2018.1513991
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Toxicology
Gold
arthritis
mining
food
chrysotherapy
safety
cancer
COLLOIDAL GOLD
RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS
IN-VIVO
OCULAR CHRYSIASIS
INJECTABLE GOLD
PARTICLE-SIZE
ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY
ACUPUNCTURE NEEDLES
CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY
TISSUE DISTRIBUTION
1115 Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Toxicology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2018-12-17