Evaluation of occupational exposure to xylene by blood, exhaled air and urine analysis.

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Abstract
Occupational xylene [environmental pollutant] exposure in the breathing zone of 15 painters was measured during 3 consecutive workdays. The applicability of the use of different biological samples was tested by the monitoring of xylene concentrations in blood, exhaled air and urinary methylhippuric acid excretion. The best relation to the time-weighted average of xylene exposure was obtained for urinary methylhippuric acid concentration at the end of the workday; an amount of 665 mg/g of creatinine corresponded to 50 ppm of xylene. The amount of methylhippuric acid in a morning sample at the end of the work week correlated to the mean exposure of the 3 preceding days. Xylene concentrations in exhaled air and blood sampled after the workday correlated poorly to the exposure of the preceding day. The urinary elimination of methylhippuric acid after the finished work week showed 2 distinct phases of excretion, with different biological half-times (1.9-5.3 h for the 1st 10 h after exposure and 16.5-48.4 h for the next 2 days).

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