Chromium in the Natural and Human Environments

Book excerpt: Provides a comprehensive chemical and biochemical treatment on the effects of chromium in the environment and in man. Such an integrated treatment of the chemical and biochemical aspects of chromium is novel and has not appeared in the published literature. Reviews the information on global cycling and environmental occurrence of chromium compounds, which defines the extent of the environmental and toxicological concern. The treatment of chromium chemistry provides the basis for toxicological models of chromium hypersensitivity, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, and toxicokinetics. Chapters contain graphical representations of the voluminous mutagenicity and animal carcinogenicity data according to chromium compound type, and a tabular summary of all published epidemiological data, broken down according to industry. Also covers clinical patterns, prognosis, pathogenesis, prophylaxis, and environmental and biological monitoring.