A direct reading method for chlorinated hydrocarbons in breath

A direct reading method is described for the measurement of tetrachloroethylene and 1,1,1-trichloroethane in breath for concentrations ranging from 2.5 to 30 ppm. It is based on colorimetric detector tube technology and consists of a two-step procedure: 1) total breath sampling in a bag and 2) analysis of the bag's content by detector tubes for the solvent and carbon dioxide. The latter is used to take into account dead space dilution and possible hyper- or hypoventilation. The method is tested in volunteers experimentally exposed to tetrachloroethylene and 1,1,1-trichloroethane and in workers occupationally exposed to tetrachloroethylene. Its results are compared with a reference gas chromatographic method. The agreement between the methods is good, with a systematic proportional error of less than +13% for tetrachloroethylene. Repeated measurements show standard deviations ranging from 6% to 39% of the tested concentrations.