title: Exposure assessment of ETBE in gas station workers and gasoline tanker truck drivers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In order to measure occupational exposure concentrations of ethyl tertiary-butyl ether (ETBE), we developed a diffusive sampling method for monitoring ETBE and performed an ETBE exposure assessment.
  
  
  METHODS
  The applicability of diffusive samplers was examined by exposing the samplers to ETBE vapor in test chambers. The personal exposure levels of workers and airborne concentrations were measured at 4 gas stations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ETBE sampling rate for the diffusive samplers (VOC-SD, Sigma-Aldrich Japan) was 25.04 ml/min (25°C). Compared with the active sampling method, the diffusive samplers could be used for short-term measurements and in environments containing a mixture of organic solvents. The geometric mean (GM) of TWA-8h ETBE was 0.08 ppm (0.02-0.28 ppm) in 28 gas station workers and 0.04 ppm (0.01-0.21 ppm) in 2 gasoline tanker truck drivers. With regard to ETBE airborne concentrations, the GM was 4.12 ppm (0.93-8.71 ppm) at the handles of hanging pumps but dropped to less than 0.01 ppm (less than 0.01-0.01 ppm) at the side of a public road.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The diffusive sampling method can be used for the measurement of occupational ETBE exposure. The threshold limit of TLV-TWA 5 ppm recommended by the ACGIH was not exceeded in any of the workers in this study.
authors: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, Keio University. eitaki@z2.keio.jp
authors: Yoko
authors: Y
authors: Eitaki
authors: Toshio
authors: T
authors: Kawai
authors: Kazuyuki
authors: K
authors: Omae
mesh_terms: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000032:analysis*; D001336:Automobiles; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D005019:Ethyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007564:Japan; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010578:Petroleum
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D005019:Ethyl Ethers; D010578:Petroleum; C098546:ethyl tert-butyl ether