title: Use of breath analysis to monitor methylene chloride exposure.
abstract: Twenty male and female subjects were exposed repetitively to methylene chloride (CH2Cl2) vapor, 50, 100, 250, and 500 ppm, for 1,3, or 7.5 h in a controlled-environment chamber. Postexposure alveolar breath samples were collected in small glass breath tubes and analyzed for CH2Cl2 by gas chromatography. From these data is a series of breath CH2Cl2 excretion curves were constructed that can be used to estimate the magnitude of a recent exposure. The CH2CL2 breath concentration in the immediate postexposure period accurately reflected the vapor concentration to which the subjects had been exposed most recently. Breath samples collected 1--2 h following exposure were accurate indicators of the time-weighted average vapor exposure experienced by the subjects during the previous 8 h of occupational exposure. Breath analysis offers a practical, noninvasive method for monitoring occupational exposure to CH2Cl2.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001944:Breath Tests; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006801:Humans; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D008297:Male; D008752:Methylene Chloride; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D008752:Methylene Chloride