Bärbara datorer, en möjlig källa för nickel- och koboltexponering av hud? : Direktvisande tester för nickel och kobolt på bärbara datorer och frisättningsförsök på en bärbar dator

Sammanfattning: Background: Since1994, the EU NickelDirective is limiting the release of nickel from objects that are in prolongedcontact with skin. Despite this, nickel is still the most common cause of contactallergy in industrialized countries. This could implicate that other productswith short contact to the skin, which are not restricted by EU´s legislation inREACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicalsubstances), could be a source of nickel or cobalt exposure. There is no limitfor cobalt release within REACH. To determine if there is cobalt or nickelpresent on the surface of a material and if metal can be released in contactwith the skin, there are quantitative and qualitative methods, such as the DMG(dimethylglyoxime)-test, the cobalt spot-test and a method for releasedetermination according to EN1811.Objectives: Laptops are not included in the REACH legislation. The purpose of thisstudy was to investigate whether nickel or cobalt can be found on computersurfaces and if nickel and cobalt can be released from surfaces that are incontact with skin, during work with laptops. Are there any variations betweendifferent models or different brands of laptops (two years old or less) andwhat levels of nickel and cobalt are released from different surfaces on a specificHP computer, that gave positive results for nickel and cobalt in the spot- tests? Methodand materials: In this study 30laptops (7 Hewlett Packard (HP), 18 Dell, 3 Sony Vaio, 1Fujitsu and 1 Macbook), weretested by using DMG-test and cobalt spot-test. To measure the release of nickeland cobalt on one specific laptop (HP2560p), the standard method EN1811 and amodified version of the method, were used. Results: Laptopsof different models and manufacturers were tested for nickel by using theDMG-test. The test turned out positive for all tested laptops from HP and 4 of18 of the laptops from Dell. For cobalt, onlyone laptop (HP) of the total 30 computers, gave a positive result. The resultsfrom the release test of a specific laptop, was lower than the limit thresholdvalue within REACH (0.5µg/cm2/week). The highest amounts of nickel,0.1μg/cm2/week, were measured for the computer components thatwere derived from the palm rest. All the cobalt levels, except one, were belowthe detection limit for the analysis. Conclusions: Our study indicatesthat laptops are a potential source for nickel deposition onto skin. In this study, computers from five differentmanufacturers have been tested, and it turned out that the tested models from HPand Dell released nickel. Cobalt was only released in very low concentrations,at a level near the LOD for the analysis.