Urinary 2-Ethoxyacetic Acid for Biological Monitoring of Workers Exposed to 2-Ethoxyethyl Acetate

Kim, Kwang Jong; Sung, Sang Gyu; Kim, Jung Chul; Kim, Hae Joon

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the association between urinary 2-ethoxyacetic acid(EAA) as a new indicator of biological monitoring for the workers exposed to 2-etho xyethyl acetate(EEA) and independent variables such as the EEA exposure concentration, exposure dose, total EEA absorption amount, work duration, and alcohol consumption. In this study the subjects were the total of 160 drawn from 75 workers who were occupationally exposed to EEA and 85 workers who were not. The results were as follows: 1. In the electronic painting workplace, EEA exposure concentration in the breathing zone of the spray workers was the highest, as showed 2. 88ppm(0. 01-15.1 ppm) and cases of exceeded threshold limit value(TLV = 5ppm) were 12.0% among the total of 75 exposed workers. 2. Four workers(5. 4%) of exposed workers indicated more than 50.0 mg/g creatinine of urinary EAA, the geometric mean urinary EAA in exposed workers was 2.49 mg/g creatinine, and was higher than that of workers who were not exposed. 3. In the spray workers of auto products, the geometric mean of urinary BAA was the highest showing 5.76 mg/g creatinine. 4. The difference of urinary BAA by EEA exposure level was significant and the correlation coefficient between urinary BAA and EEA in air was the highest showing 0. 53O(p < 0.01). In conclusion, the amount of urianry EAA proved to be a good parameter for biological monitoring of workers exposed to EEA.