Use of breath analysis to monitor methylene chloride exposure

Twenty male and female subjects were exposed repetitively to methylene chloride (CH2Cl2) vapor, 50, 100, 250, and 500 ppm, for 1,3, or 7.5 h in a controlled-environment chamber. Postexposure alveolar breath samples were collected in small glass breath tubes and analyzed for CH2Cl2 by gas chromatography. From these data is a series of breath CH2Cl2 excretion curves were constructed that can be used to estimate the magnitude of a recent exposure. The CH2CL2 breath concentration in the immediate postexposure period accurately reflected the vapor concentration to which the subjects had been exposed most recently. Breath samples collected 1--2 h following exposure were accurate indicators of the time-weighted average vapor exposure experienced by the subjects during the previous 8 h of occupational exposure. Breath analysis offers a practical, noninvasive method for monitoring occupational exposure to CH2Cl2.