An improved method for the determination of phenol in the urine of workers exposed to benzene or phenol

Summary Interlaboratory comparison of phenol in urine analyses shows large variability, much larger than is normally associated with gas chromatographic analysis which suggest sample preparation problems are to blame. This paper describes a simple method of analysis which has been in use for four years in our laboratory. 2-Ethyl phenol is added to the urine as an internal standard; the sample is distilled and the distillate directly analysed by gas chromatography on a column packed with Tenax-GC using FID detectors. The detection limit is 0.1 mg/l and the coefficient of variation at 5.9 mg/l is 4.1 % (n = 8).