Speichel als Matrix für das Humanbiomonitoring in der Arbeits- und Umweltmedizin [Biomonitoring Methods in German Language, 2015]

Saliva as a matrix for human biomonitoring in occupational and environmental medicine Purpose: Human biomonitoring (HBM) implies the assessment of internal exposure to hazardous substances by measuring the substances, their metabolites or reaction products, as well as effect parameters in human body fluids. Along with blood, plasma and urine, saliva is of increasing interest as an alternative matrix for HBM. Methods: This paper reviews studies that measure salivary background levels of hazardous substances, elevated levels after environmental or occupational exposure, as well as references which deal with physiological and toxicokinetic behaviour of saliva and salivary parameters, respectiv…

Internal exposure of firefighting instructors to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) during live fire training

Firefighting instructors in live fire training are inevitably exposed to emissions containing, carcinogenic PAH. The study investigated PAH uptake in a group of firefighting instructors during short-term exposure in live fire training by urinary biomonitoring. Six firefighting instructors (non-smokers) completed five 2 h-training sessions each in a carbonaceous-fired simulation unit using self-containing breathing apparatuses (SCBA). Complying with a minimum time interval of six days between the individual training sessions, the participants provided urine samples before and immediately after, as well as 1, 3, 6, 9, 11, and 18 h after each training session. Samples were analyzed for 10 mono…

Acute exposure to 50ppm toluene does not increase sleepiness

Abstract The Pupillographic Sleepiness Test (PST) is a new neurophysiological method to assess sleepiness. In an exposure study to a constant exposure level of 50 ppm toluene on 20 healthy men, our aim was to find out, if increased sleepiness could be seen with PST. PST was performed before and after 4.5 h of exposure. General complaints were assessed with the Swedish Performance Evaluation System (SPES) self-assessment questionnaire, once before and during exposure. Values obtained during exposure were related to pre-exposure values. Parametric cross-over analysis of logarithmic Pupillary Unrest Index (PUI) values did not show an effect of toluene exposure. In a nonparametric cross-over an…

Risk assessment of Bundeswehr (German Federal Armed Forces) permethrin-impregnated battle dress uniforms (BDU).

In an age when vector-borne diseases are emerging worldwide, personal protective measures are essential for shielding soldiers and other exposed persons from arthropod attack. The development of permethrin-impregnated clothing has been one recent advance in protecting persons at-risk. However, to date risk assessment has not been performed related to wearing permethrin-impregnated clothing over longer time periods. Therefore, this paper describes relevant toxicological aspects of permethrin and estimates the extent of dermal permethrin uptake by soldiers wearing impregnated uniforms by determining urine metabolites of permethrin. The exposure monitoring conducted in wearers of untreated uni…

Uptake and elimination of permethrin related to the use of permethrin treated clothing for forestry workers

Wearing of permethrin treated clothing usually implicates an uptake of permethrin by the user. Aim of our study was to examine the kinetics of internal permethrin exposure in volunteers during and after a single 8h-use of treated clothing as well as factors potentially influencing permethrin uptake. 28 male volunteers (age: 20-34 years) were equipped with permethrin treated jackets and pants from two different suppliers. The clothing was worn for 8h, simulating differing external conditions, including comfort conditions as well as conditions of increased temperature and humidity without and with additional physical workload. Internal permethrin exposure was monitored by determination of per…

Kupfer und seine anorganischen Verbindungen [BAT Value Documentation in German language, 2017]

External and internal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) among workers in the production of fire-proof materials – Proposal of a biological monitoring guidance value

In 1999, we introduced the German polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) study. The study was designed as a nation-wide investigation on workers exposed to PAH. One aim of the study was to establish biological monitoring guidance values (BMGVs) for different branches. Here, we report on the production of fire-proof materials. This branch of industry is typically confronted with high exposure to PAH and with PAH-induced occupational (cancer) diseases. One hundred and thirty-five employees participated in the course of seven sampling dates in four different plants in Germany. External exposure was determined by personal air monitoring of the 16 EPA-PAH. Human biological monitoring was accompl…

Determination of haemoglobin adducts of acrylamide and glycidamide in smoking and non-smoking persons of the general population

Acrylamide (AA) is a food-borne toxicant suspected to be carcinogenic to humans. It is formed in the heating process of starch-containing food. Currently, there is a great discussion about the possible human health risks connected with the dietary uptake of acrylamide. Haemoglobin adducts of acrylamide and its oxidative metabolite glycidamide are both markers of biochemical effect. However, because glycidamide has a higher carcinogenic potency than acrylamide itself, the glycidamide adduct might mirror the genotoxicity better than acrylamide adducts. In order to gain more information about the human metabolism of acrylamide, we investigated a small group of persons for the effective interna…

53 Human bio-monitoring of epoxy resins and hardeners in the production of rotor: blades

Introduction In a small company producing rotor blades for aviation from carbon composites, epoxy resins based on Novolac and isophorone diamine as hardener are used. Both compounds can be absorbed via skin contact and were shown to be strong skin sensitizers. As a part of risk assessment, the industrial physician prompted a biological monitoring to determine the internal exposure of the workers. Methods 6 workers were identified with potential contact to the hardener and resin. We have collected pre- and post-shift urine samples at the beginning and mid of the work week and analysed them for the concentration of isophoronediamine and bisphenol-f-diglycidylethermetabolites as biomarker for …

Biological monitoring of welders exposed to aluminium

To evaluate an adequate strategy for biological monitoring of aluminium (Al), a group of 62 Al welders (age in 1999: 23-51 years, median 35 years) was surveyed annually from 1999 to 2003 by determination of pre- and post-shift Al in urine and plasma. Biomonitoring was supplemented by personal air measurements of the total dust concentration. The welders' internal exposure was compared to the exposure of 60 non-exposed assembly workers (age in 1999: 21-51 years, median: 36 years) who were surveyed in 1999, 2001 and 2003. Having a nearly constant dust exposure, median concentrations of Al in urine (Al in plasma) of the welders decreased from 40.1 microg/g to 19.8 microg/g creatinine (8.7 to 4…

Biomonitoring and evaluation of permethrin uptake in forestry workers using permethrin-treated tick-proof pants.

We conducted a randomized case-control trial to analyze uptake of the insecticide/arcaricide permethrin in wearers of permethrin-impregnated and non-impregnated pants in German forestry. Eighty-two male workers were each equipped for a 16-week period with permethrin-treated (test group) or with non-treated work pants (control group). Pants with or without lining to protect against cuts, obtained from two different distributors, were worn in each group. Urinary permethrin metabolite levels were measured by GC-MS/MS before, during and after wearing of the pants. Permethrin uptake was calculated using additional questionnaire data. In the control group, metabolite levels in the range of enviro…

Biomonitoring in wearers of permethrin impregnated battle dress uniforms in Afghanistan and Germany.

Objectives To analyse differences in uptake of the insecticide permethrin in wearers of non-impregnated and permethrin impregnated battle dress uniforms (BDU) in Afghanistan and Germany. Methods In two separate studies, in April 2003–January 2004 (study I, n=549) and in February–April 2005 (study II, n=195), healthy female and male members of the German Federal Armed Forces were equipped with permethrin impregnated BDU (two sub-cohorts in Germany and one in Afghanistan) while members equipped with non-impregnated uniforms served as a control group. Human biomonitoring was conducted before, during and after wearing the uniforms by measuring permethrin metabolites in urine samples via GC–MS. …

Saliva as a matrix for human biomonitoring in occupational and environmental medicine [Biomonitoring Methods, 2015]

Uptake of permethrin from impregnated clothing.

In order to examine exposure and health risks which can arise from permethrin-impregnated clothing, a controlled trial was conducted. In a study group consisting of 187 volunteers in total, a subgroup of 86 persons was equipped with permethrin-impregnated battle dress uniforms (BDU) for 28 days. One hundred and one persons served as a control group, wearing non-impregnated BDUs throughout the entire study period of 56 days. Internal exposure of all participants was assessed by determination of urinary permethrin metabolites (cis-DCCA, trans-DCCA and 3-PBA) on day 0, 14 and 28 of the wearing period and 28 days after termination of wearing. Exposure levels in the control group ranged within b…

Urinary excretion of heptanones, heptanoles and 2,5-heptanedione after controlled acute exposure of volunteers to n-heptane.

A lack of well-established parameters and assessment values currently impairs biomonitoring of n-heptane exposure. Using controlled inhalation experiments, we collected information on urinary n-heptane metabolite concentrations and the time course of metabolite excretion. Relationships between external and internal exposure were analysed to investigate the suitability of selected metabolites to reflect n-heptane uptake. Twenty healthy, non-smoking males (aged 19-38 years, median 25.5) were exposed for 3 h to 167, 333 and 500 ppm n-heptane, each. Spot urine samples of the volunteers, collected before exposure and during the following 24 h, were analysed for heptane-2-one, 3-one, 4-one, 2,5-d…

Application of headspace solid phase dynamic extraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HS-SPDE-GC/MS) for biomonitoring of n-heptane and its metabolites in blood.

Abstract Solid phase dynamic extraction (SPDE) is an innovative sample preparation and enrichment technique in connection with gas chromatography (GC). Using SPDE, we developed a method for simultaneous determination of n-heptane and its mono-oxygenated metabolites heptane-4-one, 3-one, 2-one, 4-ol, 3-ol, 2-ol, and 1-ol in blood. After adjustment of various extraction and desorption parameters, method validation resulted in limits of detection (LOD) between 0.006 (heptane-4-one) and 0.021 mg/L (heptane-1-ol). Intra-assay coefficients of variation ranged between 4.8% and 20.8% while relative recovery ranged between 100% and 117% (spiked concentration 0.128 mg/L, n  = 8). The method was appli…

Internal exposure of the general population to DEHP and other phthalates--determination of secondary and primary phthalate monoester metabolites in urine.

A number of phthalates and their metabolites are suspected of having teratogenic and endocrine disrupting effects. Especially the developmental and reproductive effects of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) are under scrutiny. In this study we determined the concentrations of the secondary, chain oxidized monoester metabolites of DEHP, mono(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl)phthalate (5OH-MEHP) and mono(2-ethyl-5-oxo-hexyl)phthalate (5oxo-MEHP) in urine samples from the general population. The utilization of the secondary metabolites minimized any risk of contamination by the ubiquitously present phthalate parent compounds. Included in the method were also the simple monoester metabolites of DEHP, dioct…