Platinum Problem In Breast Implants

Re: breast plastic surgery - breast implants - Platinum is a catalyst used in the making of silicone implant polymer shells and other silicone devices used in medicine. The literature does indicate that small amounts of platinum leaches (platinum leaks) from these breast implants and is present in the surrounding tissue.

The FDA reviewed the available studies from the medical literature on platinum and breast implants in 2002 and concluded there was little evidence suggesting toxicity from platinum in implant patients.

In 2006, researchers published a controversial study that claimed to identify the previously undocumented presence of toxic platinum oxidative states in vivo. A letter from the editors of the publishing journal, Analytical Chemistry, subsequently expressed concern over the research's experimental design and urged the journal's readers to "use caution in evaluating the conclusions drawn in the paper."

The FDA reviewed this study and the existing literature, concluding that the body of existing research did not support their findings, and that the platinum in new implants is likely not ionized and therefore would not represent a significant risk to women.

But we don't know what damage will be done by platinum in breast implants in the long run.