T. Kawai et al., MONITORING OF OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO 1-BUTANOL BY DIFFUSIVE SAMPLING AND URINALYSIS, International archives of occupational and environmental health, 69(4), 1997, pp. 266-272
Objectives: To investigate the possibility of applying diffusive air s
ampling and urinalysis (for mother compound and metabolites) to the mo
nitoring of exposure of factory workers to 1-butanol. Methods: The per
formance of carbon cloth in adsorbing 1-butanol vapor in air was studi
ed by experimental exposure of the cloth to 1-butanol at 50, 100, 200
or 400 ppm for up to 10 h. 1-Butanol in the exposed cloth was extracte
d with carbon disulfide and this was followed by gas-chromatographic (
GC) analysis. Urine samples were collected from factory workers occupa
tionally exposed to 1-butanol and from rats exposed experimentally to
1-butanol vapour (up to 200 ppm). The urine samples were analyzed by G
C without any pretreatment, or after treatment with hydrochloric acid
or hydrolase preparation. Results: The performance of the carbon cloth
was such that it adsorbed 1-butanol in proportion to the concentratio
n (up to 400 ppm) and the duration (up to 10 h) of exposure, and respo
nded quantitatively to a 15-min exposure up to 400 ppm. The amount of
1-butanol (after enzymic or acid hydrolysis) in post-exposure urine sa
mples from rats was proportional to the exposure intensity. The propor
tion of free 1-butanol in total 1-butanol (i.e., free + conjugated) in
urine was higher after 100 or 300 ppm exposure (35-40%) than after 50
ppm exposure (about 8%). There was a significant increase in total 1-
butanol concentration (but not in free 1-butanol) in shift-end urine s
amples of workers exposed to 1-butanol at concentrations up to 3 ppm.
Conclusions: Diffusive sampling with carbon cloth as an adsorbent can
be applied to ambient air monitoring of exposure to 1-butanol. Urinaly
sis for 1-butanol after hydrolysis is sensitive enough to detect occup
ational 1-butanol vapour exposure at 3 ppm.