BIOLOGICAL MONITORING OF LEAD IN WORKERS EXPOSED TO TETRAETHYLLEAD

The excretion of inorganic, and total lead was investigated in the uri ne of workers who were exposed to tetraethyllead (TEL) at gasoline sta tions. Concentrations of total and inorganic lead after chelation-extr action were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (F AAS) in combination with a slotted quartz tube. The limit of detection was 5.2 x 10(-3) mu g Pb/ml; average total lead and inorganic lead co ncentrations in the urine of workers were 79.0 (range 22.6-158.9 mu g Pb/g creatinine) and 37.3 mu g Pb/g creatinine (range 5.1-121.0), resp ectively. In the control group, the mean of the urinary total lead and inorganic lead levels were 5.5 and 3.9 mu g Pb/g creatinine, respecti vely. The difference between total and inorganic lead concentrations c ould be due to organic lead present in the urine.