Biological monitoring of chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents.

The possibility of biological monitoring of exposure to some volatile, halogenated hydrocarbons will be discussed. Most of these agents are widely used as solvents. All agents act on the nervous system as narcotics and differ widely in toxicity. Most of the solvents undergo biotransformation to metabolites. This allows biological assessment of exposure by measurement of the solvent and/or metabolites in exhaled air, blood, and/or urine. However, the same metabolites may occur with exposure to different chlorinated hydrocarbons, eg, trichloroethanol and trichloroacetic acid from exposure to trichloroethene, tetrachloroethene, and 1,1,1-trichloroethane. On the other hand, these agents differ widely in the percentage that is metabolized. There are large gaps in our knowledge, however, and much research will have to be carried out before even tentative data can be established for most of the solvents.