Environmental nickel pathways to man.

From representative values of nickel concentrations in the background environment, a pathways analysis and exposure assessment for man is performed. Estimated daily intakes of nickel are of the order of 170 micrograms via ingestion and 0.4 microgram via inhalation. The ingestion pathway is thus quite predominant in normal circumstances. From the estimated body burden of nickel of 500 micrograms, the effective mean retention time of nickel in the body is inferred to be 200 days. The exposure evaluation is performed for total nickel in the environment and in man. Assessments for specific nickel compounds can be made as data become available.