Nonselective and selective methods for biological monitoring of exposure to coal-tar products.

Biological monitoring of exposure to coal-tar products has been carried out using the nonselective urinary mutagenicity and thioether assays and a selective method for the detection of 1-hydroxypyrene in urine. The sensitivities of the three methods have been compared. In several work environments, no increase that could be related to exposure to coal-tar products was found with the nonselective methods, whereas the levels of 1-hydroxypyrene in urine were enhanced. The applicability of the method for the detection of 1-hydroxypyrene in urine is further demonstrated.