Significance of urinary phenyl sulfate and phenyl glucuronide as indices of exposure to phenol.

Urine samples from subjects, who had been using phenol for treatment of chemical fiber in factories, were analysed for urinary phenyl sulfate (PhS) and phenyl glucuronide (PhG) by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The urinary levels of phenol metabolites (PhG and PhS) had a significant correlation with the environmental concentration of phenol. The urinary concentration of phenol metabolites, as a total of PhS and PhG, corresponding to 5 ppm of environmental phenol was 251 mg phenol/g creatinine.