REFERENCE VALUES OF URINARY ETHYLENETHIOUREA IN 4 REGIONS OF ITALY (MULTICENTRIC STUDY)

The results of a study in which urinary ethylenethiourea (ETU) was ass ayed in the general population (167 subjects) of four Regions of Italy (Veneto, Lombardy, Piedmont and Trentino Alto Adige) are reported. Th e results are compared with those in a population of 97 subjects from Rovescala, a hillside wine-producing town a few kilometres from Pavia, where ethylenebisdithiocarbamates are sprayed by helicopter. It was f ound that an average of 24% of the populations of the four regions, ta ken together, had urinary ETU levels above detection limits (1.0 mu g l(-1)) as compared to 37% of the population of Rovescala. The ranges o f concentration were 0.8-8.3 mu g l(-1) for the four regions and 0.9-6 1.4 mu g l(-1) for Rovescala. Statistically significant variables for urinary ETU levels were smoking and wine drinking.