Simultaneous determination of trichloroethylene and metabolites in blood and exhaled air by gas chromatography

Summary A gas chromatographic method for simultaneous determination of trichloroethylene (TRI), trichloroethanol (TCE) and trichloroacetic acid (TCA) in blood and TRI, TCE in exhaled air is described. The determination in blood is based on the relative volatility of TRI, TCE and TCA methylester, which offers the possibility of headspace analysis. The gaschromatograph is equipped with an electron capture detector.Exhaled air, collected during 1 min normal breathing is analysed for TRI and TCE under the same gas chromatographic conditions as the headspace vapour of blood.After exposure of 4 volunteers to 70 and 140 ppm TRI a close relation over a wide range between the concentrations TRI and TCE in blood and in exhaled air is obtained. The TRI resp. TCE concentration in blood is about 23 resp. 15.000 times higher than in exhaled air.