Concentration of Urinary Hippuric Acid in Toluene-Exposed Workers According to the Specific Characteristic of Work = Concentration of Urinary Hippuric Acid in Toluene-Exposed Workers According to the Specific Characteristic of Work

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study is assessed the urinary hippuric acid (HA) concentration in toluene-exposed workers. Toluene is widely used in the coating, printing, painting and petroleum industries. We analyzed the hippuric acid level of toluene-exposed workers (males: 198, females: 63) from 2008 to 2010 and examined therelationship between hippuric acid and the characteristics of their work. The measurements of the urinaryhippuric acid were confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Among the subjects, males had on average more work experience than females (males: 9.17 years, females: 4.45 years), butfemales showed a higher hippuric acid concentration levels than males (males: 0.26 g/L, females: 0.75 g/L). The mean of the HA concentration according to the age group was 0.19 g/L in 30’s, 0.30 g/L in 40’s, 0.54 g/L in 50’s, 1.36 g/L in 60’s. Those in their 60’s had the highest concentration. The mean of HA concentration according to the type of work was 0.70 g/L for the coating, 0.52 g/L for the painting, and 0.16 g/L for the printing industries, revealing that the workers in the coating industry had the highest concentration. By the highest order, the mean of HA concentration by working period was as follows; less than 5 years, ≤5 years～<10 years. The factors that influence the HA concentration are not only how long one is exposed to toluene but also the type of work, worker’s age, and their gender.