Abstract
Nickel (Ni) metal and Ni compounds are widely used in applications like stainless steel, alloys, and batteries. Nickel is a naturally occurring element in water, soil, air, and living organisms, and is essential to microorganisms and plants. Thus, human and environmental nickel exposures are ubiquitous. Production and use of nickel and its compounds can, however, result in additional exposures to humans and the environment. Notable human health toxicity effects identified from human and/or animal studies include respiratory cancer, non-cancer toxicity effects following inhalation, dermatitis, and reproductive effects. These effects have thresholds, with indirect genotoxic and epigenetic events underlying the threshold mode of action for nickel carcinogenicity. Differences in human toxicity potencies/potentials of different nickel chemical forms are correlated with the bioavailability of the Ni2+ ion at target sites. Likewise, Ni2+ has been demonstrated to be the toxic chemical species in the environment, and models have been developed that account for the influence of abiotic factors on the bioavailability and toxicity of Ni2+ in different habitats. Emerging issues regarding the toxicity of nickel nanoforms and metal mixtures are briefly discussed. This review is unique in its covering of both human and environmental nickel toxicity data.
Highlights
A series of reports by Vaktskjold et al [132,133,134,135] based on results from this study indicated that exposure of female refinery workers to soluble nickel was not associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes for (1) male newborns with genital malformations, (2) spontaneous abortions, (3) small-for-gestational-age newborns, or (4) musculoskeletal effects in newborns
While developmental toxicity was observed in high-dose oral animal studies with water-soluble nickel compounds, an epidemiological study of female workers exposed to nickel metal and nickel compounds at exposure levels higher than present in current operations [132,133,134,135] has not indicated adverse developmental effects in humans
The threshold-mediated developmental effects observed in rodents (1) may not be relevant to humans or (2) may not have been observed in the exposed human population because even the highest measured for female workers’ exposure (e.g., ~179 μg Ni/L in urine) was lower than the levels achieved in rats at the most sensitive LOAEL for reproductive effects (2300 μg Ni/L in urine)
Summary
Nickel (Ni) is a naturally occurring element and is found in abundance in the earth’s crust and core. Water, sediments, and soil from various natural sources and anthropogenic processes. Nickel exists in nature mainly in the form of sulfide, oxide, and silicate minerals, and is an important commercial element in industrialized societies. Metallic nickel (nickel metal and alloys) are nickel substances with very low or no water solubility. The important uses of nickel substances in transportation products, aerospace equipment, paints, ceramics, medical applications, electronics, food and beverage production, batteries, chemicals, and many other uses indicate that potential exposure to nickel metal, nickel compounds, and nickel-containing alloys is wide ranging. Many sources and types of exposure exist, potential toxicity is dependent on the physico-chemical characteristics of the nickel substance, as well as the amount, duration, and route of exposure
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