Exposure assessment of airborne acrylamide for occupationally exposed workers by using an isotope-dilution gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry.
OBJECTIVE
To develop a highly sensitive analytical method for very low acrylamide (AA) exposure and to conduct an occupational exposure assessment by the developed method.


METHODS
Seventy-five air samples from four plants were collected and analyzed using an isotope-dilution gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS).


RESULTS
This isotope-dilution GC-MS method is sufficiently sensitive for assessing very low AA level as 4.37 ng m(-3), which is 10- to 7500-fold lower than the current analytical method. Field study showed that most airborne AA was gaseous rather than particulate. The personal exposure levels in workers ranged from 4.37 x 10(-3) microg m(-3) to 94.90 microg m(-3) with a mean of 12.08 microg m(-3). Fifty percent of personal 8-h time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations in the AA production plant exceeded the threshold limit value of 30 microg m(-3) set by American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists.


CONCLUSIONS
The field study indicated that 8-h TWA concentrations in workers varied by two orders of magnitude. The highly sensitive method can be used in future health risk assessment of AA exposure, such as those in fast-food restaurants.
Wu
Kuen-Yuh
KY
Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, National Taiwan University, College of Public Health, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
Huang
Yu-Fang
YF
Chen
Ming-Feng
MF
Shih
Tung-Shen
TS
Uang
Shi-Nian
SN
Mao
I-Fang
IF
Chen
Mei-Lien
ML
D020106:Acrylamide / Q000032:analysis*; D000328:Adult; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000032:analysis*; D002138:Calibration; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D002617:Chemical Industry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D017575:Gloves, Protective; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D058028:Research Report; D012134:Respiratory Protective Devices; D013624:Taiwan; D020711:Threshold Limit Values; D013997:Time Factors
D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D020106:Acrylamide