BIOLOGICAL MONITORING OF DELTAMETHRIN EXPOSURE IN GREENHOUSES

This study examined the possibility of using biological monitoring to assess deltamethrin exposure among greenhouse workers. The synthetic p yrethroid deltamethrin was sprayed in five greenhouses by cold fog gen erators, and the exposure was biologically monitored by analysing the concentration of its metabolite, 3-phenoxybenzoic acid, by a gas chrom atographic method after derivatization with pentafluorobenzyl bromide. 3-Phenoxybenzoic acid was found in the urine of two of the ten worker s studied. The urine concentration of the metabolite varied from 2.4 t o 51.7 mu g/l. These results show that 3-phenoxybenzoic acid is suitab le for biological monitoring for the assessment of exposure to deltame thrin.