Metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urine of exposed workers

During the last decade, the work at our department has been focused on the development of exposure tests for mutagens and carcinogens. The thioether assay and the urinary mutagenicity assay are well‐known examples. However, the normal range of occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) is too low for these tests. Therefore, an HPLC method was developed to determine hydroxylated‐PAH in urine at the nmol/1 level. Urine specimens of a reference population and of people exposed to PAH were assayed to test the applicability in practice. A trace amount of 1‐hydroxypyrene occurred in referents’ urine. The level in urine of smoking referents was not significantly increased compared to the level of non‐smoking referents. After therapeutical treatment of dermatological patients with a coal tar ointment, the level of 1‐hydroxypyrene in urine was 100–1000 times the background level and 3‐hydroxybenzo(a)pyrene was detectable. Three workers of a creosote impregnating plant showed a highly increased...