Biological monitoring of occupational exposure to tetrachloroethene.

Abstract

Biological monitoring of occupational exposure to tetrachloroethene. Scand j work environ health 9 (1983) 273-281. In the breathing zone of 32 workers concentrations of tetrachloroethene were measured during five consecutive workdays. The feasibility of biological monitoring was tested by the measurement of the concentrations of tetrachloroethene in blood and exhaled air and the urinary excretion of trichloroacetic acid and trichloroethanol. The best parameter to estimate the time-weighted average exposure to tetrachloroethene over the whole workweek appears to be the concentration of both tetrachloroethene and trichloroacetic acid in blood 15-30 min after the end of the workday at the end of the workweek. Among the noninvasive methods the best parameter is the tetrachloroethene concentration in exhaled air 15-30 min after work at the end of the workweek, followed by the measurement of trichloroacetic acid in urine at the end of the workweek. In exposure to 2,050 pmol of tetrachloroethene/m3 (340 mg/m3, 50 ppm) the eshmated values for the biological parameters are 13.2 pmol of tetrachloroethenell of blood, 33 tun01 of trichloroacetic acidP of blood, 920 pmol of tetrachloroethenelm3 of exhaled air and 6.1 ymol of trichloroacetic acidlmmol of creatinine in urine, respectively. With 95 % confidence it may be stated that an individual with a value for a biological parameter not exceeding 8.3 pmol of tetrachloroethenell of blood, 20 pmol of trichloroacetic acid11 of blood, 515 pmol of tetrachloroethene/m3 of exhaled air and 3.0 ymol of trichloroacetic acidlmmol of creatinine, respectively, had an exposure not exceeding 2,050 pmol of tetrachloroethene/m3. The measurement of trichloroethanol in urine may be used for the estimation of the time-weighted average exposure over the previous 2 d. The concentration of tetrachloroethene in exhaled air 15-30 min after exposure had little value for the estimation of the time-weighted average exposure over the last 4 h. On Monday morning the concentration of tetrachloroethene in exhaled air is still about 15 % of the time-weighted average exposure concentration during the whole preceding workweek. The half-time of trichloroacetic acid in urine and blood during the weekend is about 65-90 h. K e y terms: metabolism, trichloroacetic acid, trichloroethanol. Tetrachloroethene(tetrachloroethylene, perchloroethylene) i s a volatile, nonflammable liquid widely used a s a degreasi n g a n d drycleaning solvent. T h e u p t a k e of tetrachloroethene by the lung is rather high (alveolar retention 60-80 %) (2,8) because of its high solubility i n blood a n d

Household solvent exposures and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

“…2,3,10 Exposure of children could occur through inhalation of solvents used at home or brought home from the workplace on the parents' breath. 19 Previous epidemiologic studies have found positive associations between childhood leukemia and painting on the job during the prenatal 7,10,20 and postnatal 10 periods. Each of the activities associated with an elevated risk of childhoodALL involves exposure to organic solvents, some of which are known or possible human carcinogens.…”

Occupational Exposure to Perchloroethylene in Dry-cleaning Shops in Tehran, Iran

“…The low cost and simplicity of the breath sampling (end-exhaled air) method enabled expired air samples to be collected in virtually all participating workers. Breath (end-exhaled air) analysis has the great advantage of being noninvasive 14,15) . The results of this study showed that some workers in dry-cleaning shops were highly exposed to perchloroethylene; therefore control measures should be done for decreasing the airborne perchloroethylene level.…”

“…The nitrogen carrier gas flow-rate was 30 ml/min. For end-exhaled air samples of the same participants, individuals were asked to exhale normally into a 1 liter Tedlar TM air bags (SKC, eighty four PA) until it was filled [11][12][13][14][15] . All the samples from end-exhaled air samples were analyzed for perchloroethylene using the same Philips Unicam PU 4410 gas chromatograph equipped with the same column and detector.…”

Estimating perchlorate exposure from food and tap water based on US biomonitoring and occurrence data

“…Residing near dry-cleaning facilities or storing recently dry-cleaned clothes at home can contribute to increased blood tetrachloroethene levels (Begerow et al, 1996;Popp et al, 1992). In contrast, tetrachloroethene blood levels in occupationally exposed workers have been reported to be many thousand times higher than the unexposed general population (Begerow et al, 1996;Furuki et al, 2000;Monster et al, 1983). The occupational biological exposure index associated with an 8-hour exposure of 25 ppm is 500 μg/L tetrachloroethene in blood (ACGIH, 2007).…”