Tentative reference values for gold, silver and platinum: literature data analysis.

Data available on biologic fluid content of therapeutic metals are uneven for silver, gold and platinum respectively. Tentative reference values may be proposed on the basis of the most representative studies for silver and gold. For silver it is suggested that the variability in normal subjects could range up to 10-mu-g/l in whole blood and up to 1-mu-g/l in urine. For gold 0.5-mu-g/l can be considered the upper limit for both whole blood and urine. For platinum there is no indication that concentration in either blood or urine could reach detectable amounts in normal subjects.