Distribution of nickel in lungs from former nickel workers

Objective: The purpose of this work was to study the distribution of nickel within lung tissue obtained from nickel-exposed people and to evaluate the␣use of only one single sample for determination of the nickel burden of the lung. Methods and materials: The material used was lung tissue obtained from 15 former nickel refinery workers who had been exposed to a variety of nickel compounds such as Ni₃S₂, NiO, Ni⁰, NiSO₄, and NiCl₂. Ten samples taken from different locations of the lung as well as from the right and left bronchus and from the right lower lobe (total 13 samples per individual) were analyzed for nickel by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Samples obtained from ten people not connected to the refinery served as a reference group. Results: The arithmetic mean value ± SD for nickel concentration was 50 ± 150 μg g⁻¹ dry wt. Biopsies collected on the center of the lower right lobe had an average nickel concentration of 82 ± 252 μg g⁻¹. The average nickel concentration detected in the right and left bronchus was 5.9 ± 11.6 and 3.8 ± 6.0 μg g⁻¹, respectively. Lung tissue obtained from ten people not connected to the refinery had an average nickel concentration of 0.74 ± 0.44 μg g⁻¹. Conclusions: The significant findings based on log-normal distribution of the nickel concentration were as follows: (1) samples obtained from the right lung showed no significant difference from samples taken from the left lung–a comparison of the nickel concentration detected in all the lung lobes showed that no single lobe differed from another; (2) the concentration of nickel found in the main bronchus of the refinery workers, although elevated, was significantly lower than the concentration detected in the remaining tissue; and (3) one single biopsy did not reflect the nickel burden of the lung. Received: 20 November 1997 / Accepted: 21 April 1998