High urine ttMA levels among fishermen from a Thai rural village.

The ongoing industrialization of Thailand, a developing country in Southeast Asia, has put many occupations at high risk of benzene exposure. However, there are few reports about monitoring the biomarkers of benzene exposure among Thais. In this study, we report on high urine trans, trans-muconic acid (ttMA) levels among the fishermen of a rural community. Using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for urine ttMA determination, 49 subjects (30 fishermen and 19 control subjects) were studied. The mean urine ttMA level in fisherman (0.180 +/- 0.130 mg/g creatinine) was significantly higher than that of the control group (0.015 +/- 0.053 mg/g creatinine) (p < 0.05). We recommend the monitoring of urine ttMA in these workers. The monitoring of the possible benzene contamination of the water and fish is recommended for further study.