Ferrari M, Negri S, Zadra P, Ghittori S, Imbriani M
Fondazione S Maugeri IRCCS, UO Medicina Ambientale e Medicina Occupazionale, Pavia, Italy.
Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2008 Aug;81(8):1021-8. doi: 10.1007/s00420-007-0295-8. Epub 2008 Jan 3.
To describe a sensitive and rapid method for the determination of toluene in saliva. Biomonitoring of toluene exposure is commonly performed by determination of urinary hippuric acid, o-cresol or toluene itself. The analysis of blood toluene has been verified as another method for biomonitoring. However, drawing blood is invasive and can often not be performed at the workplace for hygienic reasons. Sampling of saliva may be non-invasive, easy to perform and a viable alternative for biomonitoring in the workplace.
We measured the solvent concentration in saliva specimens of 5 healthy volunteers studied in the laboratory and a group of 36 workers exposed to toluene in the synthetic leather industry. Saliva was collected into Salivette (Sarstedt, Germany) devices by sterile cotton rolls placed in the mouth and then squeezed into pre-weighted vials. Environmental toluene was collected for the duration of a work-shift by Radiello (FSM, Italy) passive samplers. Toluene in urine and saliva (head space analysis) and in environmental samples was measured by GC-MS.
Environmental toluene levels ranged from 0.22 to 57.20 mg/m(3), while the concentrations of the solvent in saliva and urine ranged from 0.12 to 18.30 microg/L, and from 0.47 to 26.64 microg/L, respectively. The correlation coefficients (r) between biological and environmental levels of toluene were 0.77 and 0.93, respectively, for saliva and urine samples.
This preliminary study suggests that saliva may offer many advantages over 'classical' biological fluids such as blood as it is readily accessible and collectible: therefore saliva toluene may be considered as a possible biomarker of exposure to toluene.
描述一种灵敏且快速的唾液中甲苯测定方法。甲苯暴露的生物监测通常通过测定尿马尿酸、邻甲酚或甲苯本身来进行。血液中甲苯的分析已被确认为另一种生物监测方法。然而，采血具有侵入性，并且由于卫生原因通常无法在工作场所进行。唾液采样可能是非侵入性的，易于操作，是工作场所生物监测的一种可行替代方法。
我们测量了在实验室研究的5名健康志愿者以及一组36名在合成皮革行业接触甲苯的工人的唾液样本中的溶剂浓度。通过置于口腔中的无菌棉卷将唾液收集到Salivette（德国赛多利斯公司）装置中，然后挤入预先称重的小瓶中。在一个工作班次期间，通过Radiello（意大利FSM公司）被动采样器收集环境中的甲苯。通过气相色谱 - 质谱联用仪（GC - MS）测量尿液和唾液（顶空分析）以及环境样本中的甲苯。
环境甲苯水平范围为0.22至57.20 mg/m³，而唾液和尿液中溶剂浓度分别范围为0.12至18.30 μg/L和0.47至26.64 μg/L。唾液和尿液样本中，甲苯生物水平与环境水平之间的相关系数（r）分别为0.77和0.93。
这项初步研究表明，与血液等“传统”生物流体相比，唾液可能具有许多优势，因为它易于获取和收集：因此唾液中的甲苯可被视为甲苯暴露的一种可能生物标志物。
