Biological exposure indices of organic solvents for Korean workers

Biological exposure indices (BEIs) of toluene, perchloroethylene (PCE) and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) for Korean workers were studied respectively. Exposure in workplace to organic solvents were measured by personal sampling. Blood toluene, blood PCE, urinary trichloroacetic acid and urinary MEK were determined by headspace GC. Urinary hippuric acid was determined by HPLC and corrected for creatinine. BEIs for Korean workers were calculated with the levels of the determinants corresponding to permissible exposure limits in Korea which were the same with TLV of ACGIH. Blood toluene level of 2.2 mg/l and urinary hippuric acid level of 1.7 g/g creatinine corresponded to exposure of 100 ppm toluene. Blood PCE concentration of 1.6 mg/l and urinary trichloroacetic acid concentration of 2.9 mg/l corresponded to exposure to 50 ppm PCE. Urinary MEK concentration of 1.4 mg/l corresponded to exposure to 200 ppm of MEK. In conclusion, BEIs for Korean workers determined in this study were different to ACGIH's BEI as urinary determinants were lower and blood determinants were higher than ACGIH's BEI.