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Ann. occup. Hyg., Vol. 47, No. 4, pp. 331-336, 2003
© 2003 British Occupational Hygiene Society
Published by Oxford University Press

Biological Monitoring of Low Level Occupational Xylene Exposure and the Role of Recent Exposure

G. A. JACOBSON* and S. McLEAN

School of Pharmacy, University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252-26, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia

Received 6 September 2002; in final form 2 January 2003

The correlation between low level time-weighted average (TWA) atmospheric xylene exposure (p.p.m.) and urinary methylhippuric acid (MHA) expressed per gram of creatinine was examined. Subjects were recruited from workplaces that utilized xylene. Ambient monitoring of o-, m- and p-xylene isomers was carried out using passive diffusion vapour monitors. Adjusted (post-shift minus pre-shift) and post-shift urinary levels of xylene metabolites (2-, 3- and 4-MHA) were determined by GC–MS. Twenty subjects were recruited into the study. Total xylene TWA exposures were 3.36 ± 3.63 p.p.m. (mean ± SD) with a range of 0.03–14.44 p.p.m. The r2 values for the regression equations between xylene exposure and individual and total adjusted MHA isomers were 0.390, 0.709, 0.677 and 0.631 for o-, m-, p- and total xylenes, respectively, which was greater than the respective correlations between non-adjusted samples. In conclusion, biological monitoring of occupational xylene exposure at levels <15 p.p.m. using urinary MHA showed a good correlation with atmospheric levels and is a valid complement to ambient monitoring. Even though occupational xylene exposure in the workplaces studied was generally low, MHA was found in the pre-shift urine of all workers and the use of adjusted values showed modest improvements in correlations. Recent exposure prior to sampling, either from occupational or non-occupational sources, should be considered when biological monitoring of xylene is undertaken. Extrapolation of data from this study predicted a MHA concentration in post-shift urine of 1.3 g/g creatinine after exposure to a TWA of 100 p.p.m. xylene.

Keywords: biological exposure index; biological monitoring; methylhippuric acid; xylene


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