In order to determine the respective contribution of cutaneous and respiratory exposure to urinary PyOH excretion, some experimental follow-ups were carried out during cathode relining in the aluminum industry, leading to qualitative (excretion profiles) and quantitative assessments (excreted PyOH/inhaled pyrene). The procedure was as follows: no exposure on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; polluting operations on Tuesday and Thursday without or with different protections. For workers with cutaneous protection only, a significant peak of PyOH concentration is observed at the postshift, which is followed by a fast decrease to the background level. For workers with respiratory protection, the maximum is in the shape of a plateau which extends for several hours after the postshift and then decreases slowly. For people with contaminated working clothes, a significant amount of PyOH is excreted on the days with no exposition. The mean ratio of urinary excreted PyOH to inhaled pyrene dose is 15.3% for workers with cutaneous protection and 24.5% for workers with no protection.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Lafontaine et al. (2002) studied this question.