Exposure to glycol ethers in a population of French men evaluated by measurement of urinary alkoxycarboxylic acids.

Objectives Glycol ethers are solvents that are present in a large number of products used commercially and domestically. During recent years, ethylene glycol ether derivatives, in particular ethylene glycol methyl ether and ethylene glycol ethyl ether, have been progressively replaced by propylene glycol ether derivatives, which are less toxic. The aim of this study was to estimate the level of exposure to glycol ethers in a sample population of French men employed by the Paris Municipality by measuring the amount of alkoxycarboxylic acid metabolites in their urine.