| Environmental Health Issues Pieter J. Boogaard,1 Gerard D.J. Beulink,2 and
Nico J. van Sittert1,2 1Shell Internationale Petroleum Maatschappij B.V., Health
Safety and Environment Division, The Hague, The Netherlands; 2Shell
Nederland Chemie B.V., Shell Biomedical Laboratory, Hooguliet Rt., The Netherlands Abstract
In two studies, involving 75 and 72 workers, potential exposure to 3-chloro-4-fluoroaniline (CFA) was biologically monitored by determination of its main urinary metabolite 2-amino-4-chloro-5-fluorophenol sulfate (CFA-S) . As this method only allows the detection of recent exposure, analysis of CFA adducts bound to hemoglobin (Hb) was investigated as a method that allows biological monitoring of exposure to CFA over longer periods. The median CFA-S concentration in 67 samples from the first study was 0.14 µmole/g creatinine (range <0.05 - 2.82) and in 201 samples from the second study 0.21 µmole/g creatinine (range <0.05 - 6.05) . In addition, urine samples, collected after shifts with supposed incidental exposure, slightly higher concentrations were measured: 0.27 µmole/g creatinine (range <0.05 - 122 ; 18 samples) and 0.76 µmole/g creatinine (range <0.05 - 18.5 ; 46 samples) , respectively. The median Hb adduct concentration in 75 samples from the first study was 9 pmoles CFA/g Hb (range <5 - 640) and in 46 samples from the second study 12 pmoles/g Hb (range 3 - 24) . In 24 blood samples collected after incidents, a median concentration of 13 pmoles CFA/g Hb (range <5 - 52) was found. Urinary CFA-S and Hb adducts correlated well in samples collected shortly after incidental exposures. However, in 25% of the operators, no CFA-S was detected during routine biological monitoring while Hb adduct analysis showed clear evidence of exposure. This indicates that because of the stability of Hb adducts of CFA in blood, intermittent exposure to CFA is more reliably biologically monitored by determination of Hb adducts of CFA than by assessment of urinary CFA-S. -- Environ Health Perspect 102(Suppl 6) :23-25 (1994) Key words: 3-chloro-4-fluoroaniline, 2-amino-4-chloro-5-fluorophenol sulfate, aromatic amines/arylamines, biological monitoring, hemoglobin adducts
The full version of this article is available for free in HTML format. |
