GOLD: human exposure and update on toxic risks

Abstract

Gold is ubiquitous in the human environment and most people are in contact with it through wearing jewelry, 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. While gold in jewelry 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.

KEYWORDS:

• Gold
• arthritis
• mining
• food
• chrysotherapy
• safety
• cancer

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to acknowledge with gratitude the kind donation by Michael Hosken of the most readable publication A Guide to the Gold Rush Country of California” by Frank Lorey III. The Great Californian gold rush stimulated my intense interest in this metal. I am grateful also to the three international referees selected by the Editor and not known to me, and who have offered useful comments in revising this manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The author is retired from Imperial College which has given him the honorary title of Senior Lecturer in Chemical Pathology. He prepared this review without financial support from any organizations or individuals. The review and conclusions are the exclusive professional work product of the author. The author has not appeared during the past five years in any legal or regulatory proceedings related to the contents of this review paper.