[Investigations on dermal contamination among workers exposed to terephthalic acid]

Forty-three workers exposed to terephthalic acid(TPA) were selected to study the dermal contamination of TPA and the load of TPA in urine. The results showed that there existed a double logarithmic correlation between dermal contamination of TPA and air TPA concentration and a a logarithmic correlation between urinary TPA and total inhaled TPA. Neither dermal TPA contamination nor total TPA exposure exhibited and dose-dependent relationship with urinary TPA. Based on this occupational epidemiology investigation, it was proved that the absorption of TPA is not mainly from dermal exposure.