Assessment of human exposure to atrazine through the determination of free atrazine in urine

Studies on metabolism and excretion of atrazine in man are not available in the literature. The present study has investigated human exposure to atrazine during its industrial production by means of assessment of ambient exposure and determination of free atrazine in urine. Four workers exposed to atrazine during its manufacture and packaging in a production plant, volunteered for the study. Atrazine was determined in airborne dust of the working environment obtained by personal sampling, on skin pads according to the WHO standard method, and on the skin of the hands of the workers by means of a washing procedure. Urine was collected before, during, and after exposure. A 24 hr collection before the first workshift, all the urine voided during the monitoring period, subdivided in 8 hr fractions; and one or more 12 hr samples after the end of the exposure period were collected.