The smelting and refining of
silver and the preparation of
silver salts for use in photosensitized products can lead to occupational exposures to
silver. Our objectives in this study were to determine the absorption and elimination of
silver by workers exposed to different species of
silver, to estimate the body burden of
silver and to relate these findings to the potential development of
argyria. Workers potentially exposed to
silver (n = 37) and a similar number of controls (n = 35) participated in this study. Blood, urine, feces and hair samples were collected and were analyzed for total
silver content by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The mean concentration of
silver in the blood, urine and feces of
silver workers was 0.011 microgram/ml, less than 0.005 microgram/g and 15 microgram/g, respectively; and of controls was less than 0.005 microgram/ml, less than 0.005 microgram/g and 1.5 microgram/g, respectively. The concentration of
silver in hair was markedly higher for the
silver workers than for controls (130 +/- 160 vs 0.57 +/- 0.56 microgram/g, respectively). The importance of these latter findings was questionable since airborne particles of
silver can bind to hair and lead to apparent high values. Since
silver is eliminated predominantly in the feces, fecal measurements were used as an index of exposure and as a means of calculating body burdens. Human exposure to metallic
silver at the TLV (0.1 mg/m3) is expected to lead to a fecal excretion of about 1 mg of
silver per day.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)