Collection Occupational hygiene, Issue 29, 1993 year

The biological exposure index as a criterion of the load of toxic chemicals on the human body

M. A. Klisenko, L. G. Aleksandrova

doi

Institute of Occupational Medicine, Kiev

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Intensive use of chemicals in human activities has led to global environmental pollution with pesticides, heavy metals, and other organic and inorganic substances. The adverse effect of xenobiotics on the human body necessitates monitoring of environmental objects - soil, water, plants and air. In recent years, the direction associated with the use of biological markers in monitoring the quality of the environment and the state of human health has been actively developing. These markers are, as a rule, biochemical, genetic, immunological, physiological, molecular “responses” of the body to the effects of chemicals [15].

Occupational exposure to industrial chemicals (PCV) is traditionally assessed by their concentration in the breathing zone of a worker during a work shift. However, air monitoring in the working area does not accurately represent the actual dose of PCV, since it does not take into account the possible intake of chemicals into the body by other routes - through the skin, through the mouth, the use of personal protective equipment during work, periods of interruption of work and leaving the worker sites, as well as the pharmacokinetics (toxicokipetics) of absorption and metabolism of the studied chemicals. At present, professional exposure is inseparable from the intake of chemicals into the body with food, water, and air. In this regard, a more complete picture of the load of xenobiotics on the body can be obtained by biomitoring the investigated chemicals, i.e., by determining their concentrations in body fluids and tissues. Blood, urine, and sometimes exhaled air are used as an indicator biological medium. Hair and teeth are also used in the study of metals [4].

When exposed to sufficiently persistent substances in the blood and urine, it is possible to determine the initial compounds, for example, acetone, phenol, mercury, cadmium, pentachlorophenol, methanol, benzidine. Some substances are analyzed in exhaled air - benzene, n-hexane, ethylbenzene, styrene, toluene, trichlorethylene [12, 13].

However, many xenobiotics are metabolized, and the conversion products of the starting compounds are determined in the indicator biological medium. For example, in urine, thioglycolic and phenolmercapturic acids are determined as tests of exposure to vinyl chloride and benzene [13], phenol, hippuric, methyl hippuric, trichloroacetic, mandelic acids, hexanedione as tests of exposure to benzene, toluene, xylene, trichlorethylene, ethyl benzene, respectively [ , 7, 12, 14].

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