o-cresol: a good indicator of exposure to low levels of toluene

This study evaluates the suitability of using urinary excretion of o-cresol (o-CR) as a biological marker of occupational exposure to various concentrations of toluene (TOL). Thirty-eight individuals from three plants involved in the manufacture of paints or inks agreed to participate in the environmental and biological monitoring evaluations, which lasted one to two days. In all, 62 measurements of environmental TOL and urinary o-CR and hippuric acid (HA) levels were made. The eight-hour TOL exposure (time-weighted average TWA]) ranged from 0 to 111 ppm, depending on plant and job title. TOL exposure was well correlated to post-shift urinary o-CR (r = 0.89) and HA (r = 0.67) levels. At low exposure levels (below 50 ppm), however, o-CR shows a stronger correlation (r = 0.71) than HA (r = 0.24). Based on our results, occupational exposure to 50 ppm of TOL would result in end-of-shift urinary o-CR concentration of 0.72 mumol/mmol creatinine (0.69 mg/L, assuming a urinary creatinine concentration of 1 g/L). This value is of the same order of magnitude as the level proposed by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) in 1998 for exposure to 50 ppm of TOL, namely 0.5 mg/L. Our results suggest that the level of urinary o-CR is a more sensitive index of exposure to low concentrations of TOL than is the urinary concentration of HA.