Multimethod determination of occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in an aluminum plant.

Occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in an aluminum smelter has been characterised simultaneously by three different techniques. Air samples were collected by personal sampling and analysed by capillary gas chromatography. Urine samples of exposed workers and a control group, smokers and non-smokers, were collected after shift and analysed for PAH and PAH-metabolites by reversed metabolism and high performance liquid chromatography using fluorescence detection. Blood samples were collected from the same persons and the frequency of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) in the lymphocytes determined. The results showed that workers are exposed to very high concentrations of PAH. This high exposure is not reflected in significantly different values of excreted PAH metabolites or in SCE when comparing exposed to non-exposed workers. However, differences between smokers and non-smokers are easily identified both in exposed and non-exposed workers.