[Environmental and biologic monitoring of atrazine exposure at a formulating plant]. / Monitoraggio ambientale e biologico dell'esposizione ad atrazina in ambito industriale formulativo.

Atrazine exposure was evaluated in three workers engaged in technical Atrazine dust formulating and bagging processes, by environmental and biological monitoring. We found an Atrazine concentration in breathing area of 31.2 micrograms/m3 (SD +/- 9.9); actual inhalatory absorption was 20.7 micrograms/workshift. Cutaneous amount was 6 mg per workshift and the largest fraction was found on hands. Supposing that only 3.5% of the applied was absorbed, 239.7 micrograms of Atrazine were taken up by skin per workshift. The dealkylated metabolites and parent compound excreted in urine, as a whole, accounted for 71.09% of the presumed total dose absorbed. The spectrum or the urinary Atrazine metabolites comprised bi-dealkylated (58%), deethylated (30.7%), deisopropylated (7.7%) and unmodified Atrazine (3.6%). About 31% of the amount is excreted during the workshift itself. These findings allow to evaluate the magnitude of the real doses absorbed, keeping into account the effect of protective means.

Reference values of urinary 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol in the Italian population--validation of analytical method and preliminary results (multicentric study).

The interlaboratory validation of analytical procedures for the assay of urinary 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP) in the general Italian population is reported. The determinations were performed by high-resolution gas chromatography (HRGS) with electron capture detection and HRGS with mass spectrometry (MS) in 2 laboratories. The urine samples were from 42 participants from 3 regions of Italy. The results were evaluated by interlaboratory quality control. Urinary TCP concentrations were above the detection limit (1.2 micrograms/L) in 88% of the population, with a mean detectable concentration [GM (GSD)] of 2.8 (1.9) micrograms/g creatinine (creat). (GM, geometric mean; GSD, geometric standard deviation.) The Mann-Whitney U test showed that wine consumption was a statistically significant variable (p < 0.05) for urinary concentrations of TCP. Analysis of variance of the logarithm of urinary TCP versus wine consumption and diet showed a statistically significant fit. The model used explained 30% of the total variance: wine consumption and diet accounted for 37 and 17% respectively of the explained variance.

Environmental and urinary reference values as markers of exposure to hydrocarbons in urban areas.

A study using individual dosimetry to evaluate the daily inhaled dose of sixteen aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons in three groups of primary school children, living in three Italian towns with 50,000 inhabitants or less, (Treviglio-Lombardy; Poggibonsi-Tuscany; Valenza-Piedmont) is presented. The simultaneous use of two passive samplers (radial diffusion) for each child, for a 24 h period, determined both the indoor and indoor + outdoor environmental reference concentrations. We measured the urinary levels of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes for each child and hence determined the urinary reference values for BTEX. We also considered the possibility of using benzene in urine as a biomarker of environmental exposure of the general population to this xenobiotic. We evaluated how both the environmental and biological measures were influenced by the presence of smokers in the surveyed children's houses. For the group of children living in Poggibonsi, we considered the influence of the living area and the traffic density on environmental concentrations of benzene (indoor and indoor + outdoor).