title: Occupational Exposure to Mercury: Air Exposure Assessment and Biological Monitoring based on Dispersive Ionic Liquid-Liquid Microextraction.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Exposure to mercury (Hg) as a heavy metal can cause health effects. The objective of this study was to assess occupational exposure to Hg in a chlor-alkali petrochemical industry in Iran by determining of Hg concentrations in air, blood and urine samples.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was performed on 50 exposed subjects and 50 unexposed controls. Air samples were collected in the breathing zone of exposed subjects, using hopcalite sorbents. Analysis was performed using a cold vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometer (CV-AAS) according to NIOSH analytical method 6009. For all participants, blood and urine samples were collected and then transferred into sterile glass tubes. After micro-extraction with ionic liquid and back extraction with nitric acid, Hg concentrations in blood and urine samples were determined by CV-AAS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean concentration of air Hg was 0.042± 0.003 mg/m(3). The mean concentrations of Hg in blood and urine samples of exposed subjects were significantly higher than unexposed controls (22.41± 12.58 versus 1.19± 0.95 μg/l and 30.61± 10.86 versus 1.99± 1.34 μg/g creatinine, respectively). Correlation of air Hg with blood Hg, urine Hg and blood Hg-urine Hg ratio were significant statistically (P< 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The values of Hg in blood and urine samples of chlor-alkali workers were considerably high. Correlation coefficients showed that blood Hg and blood Hg-urine Hg ratio are better indicators than urine Hg for assessing occupationally exposed workers in terms of current exposure assessment.
authors.affiliation: 1. Iranian Petroleum Industry Health Research Institute (IPIHRI), Occupational and Environmental Health Research Center (OEHRC) , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shirkhanloo
authors.affiliation: 2. Dept. of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Farideh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Golbabaei
authors.affiliation: 2. Dept. of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hassani
authors.affiliation: 1. Iranian Petroleum Industry Health Research Institute (IPIHRI), Occupational and Environmental Health Research Center (OEHRC) , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Farrokh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Eftekhar
authors.affiliation: 1. Iranian Petroleum Industry Health Research Institute (IPIHRI), Occupational and Environmental Health Research Center (OEHRC) , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Javad
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kian
keywords: Blood; Blood Hg-urine Hg ratio; Mercury; Urine