• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.458-462
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• 1993

Blood toluene concentrations of thirty nine Korean toluene-exposed workers in shoes making factory were checked by headspace-gas chromatographic analysis. Air toluene concentrations in each worker's working region also checked by personal sampler during workshift and analyzed by gas chromatography. The range of blood toluene concentration was 0.15-0.84mg/L. The range of toluene concentration of each worker's working area was 8.46-189.9ppm. The correlation between blood and air concentration of toluene was 0.824.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.545-549
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• 1996

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to the toluene at 3,000${\pm}$200ppm via inhalation for two hours in the single inhalation group and three weeks by two hours per day, six da ys per week in the repeated inhalation group. The blood toluene concentration in the repeated inhalation group was significantly lower than that in the single inhalation group after 210 and 240 minutes of exposure. The peak concentration of blood toluene was 58.13${\pm}$4.63${\mu}$g/ml in the single inhalation group and 54.24${\pm}$6.87mcg/ml in the repeated at the end of 120 minutes of the exposure. The behavioral change of rats for the initial 30 minutes of the toluene inhalation showed mildly increased movement and excitement but remained calm and inhibitory behaviors after that period; more inhibitory behaviors in the single inhalation group compared with the repeated inhalation group. In open-field test, after the termination of the toluene inhalation, no difference had been statistically observed between the toluene inhalation group and the control group in ambulation, rearing, preening and grooming.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.192-199
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• 1991

Biological exposure indices (BEI) of toluene, perchloroethylene (PCE) and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) for Korean workers were studied respectively. Environmental exposures in workplace to organic solvent were measured by personal sampling. Blood toluene, blood perchloroethylene, urinary trichloroacetic acid and urinary MEK were determined by headspace gas chromatography. Urinary hippuric acid were determined by HPLC and corrected by creatinine. BEIs for Korean workers were calculated as the levels of determinants which are correspond to permissible exposure limits in Korea. Blood toluene level of 2.2mg/l and urinary hippuric acid level of 1.7g/g creatinine are correspond to an exposure of 100 ppm toluene. Blood PCE concentration of 1.6mg/l and urinary trichloroacetic acid concentration of 2.9mg/l are correspond to an exposure of 50ppm PCE. Urinary MEK concentration of 1.0mg/l is correspond to an exposure of 200ppm of MEK. BEIs for Korean workers determined in this study are very different to ACGIH's BEI as urinary determinants are much lower and blood determinants are much higher than ACGIH's BEI.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.91-96
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• 1995

The effects of toluene inhalation on the contents of amino acid neurotransmitters in rat brain were investigated and blood toluene concentrations inducing changes of behavior and amino acid neurotransmitter contents in rat brain were observed. Male wistar rats were exposed to toluene vapor (single dose : 1700, 5000 and 10000 ppm for 2 hrs, repeated dose : 1700 and 5000 ppm for 2 hrs/day$\times$6 days). Toluene concentrations in blood and the inhalation chamber were assayed by GC with headspace sampler. HPLC method following PITC derivatization was used to measure the amino acid contents in brain tissues such as frontal cortex, caudate, hippocampus, cerebellum and brain stem. Glutamic acid and aspartic acid levels were increased by single inhalation of toluene (5000 ppm) in all the brain areas assayed in this experiment. In caudate and cerebellum, taurine levels were decreased by single inhalation of low dose toluene (1700 ppm), but increased by repeated administration. At high blood toluene concentration, GABA levels were increased in all the brain areas assayed in this experiment and the increasing extents of inhibitory amino acid contents measured in caudate and hippocampus were greater than those of excitatory amino acids. These results suggest that the changes of amino acid neurotransmitter contents in brain by exposure to toluene may modulate toluene-induced behaviors.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.443-453
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• 2004

Toluene is currently used as a major organic solvent of glues which are abused by the youngster for its hallucinogenic effect. In this study, toluene determination method using headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) in the biological fluids like blood, urine and saliva of glue sniffers was validated and related uncertainties were estimated. LOD of $0.01{\mu}g/mL$ in saliva and LOQ of $0.1{\mu}g/mL$ in blood were the highest among LODs and LOQs in urine, blood and saliva. Other performance characteristics such as linearity, working range, accuracy, precision and recovery were also measured. The uncertainty at toluene concentration of $1{\mu}g/mL$ was estimated to be 0.13, 0.09 and $0.17{\mu}g/mL$ for blood, urine and saliva, respectively, and the uncertainty contribution from the least linear regression was dominant at the lower concentration of toluene.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.153-161
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• 2009

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate 1) blood lead levels of workers at auto repair shops as Biological Exposure Indices (BEI) of toxic substances such as lead and toluene that are produced during automotive painting process, 2) the differences depending on personal characteristics of workers who have been exposed to toluene by using urine hippuric acid concentration as a marker and 3) the correlation between the concentration of hazardous chemicals in each workplace and the BEL. All subjects were male with a mean age of 36.2 years. In terms of age, most were in the 30 to 40 age group (13 persons, 48.1%). In relation to the length of work experience, the highest proportion had experience of 10 years of less (18 persons, 66.7%). Twenty three workers were cigarette smokers (85.2%) while 4 (14.8%) were non-smokers. In addition, more than 80% of the workers drank alcohol. Dust concentration and toluene exposure during automotive painting showed no significant difference with age, length of work experience, smoking and drinking while a significant difference (p<0.05) has been detected between lead concentration and smoking. The geometric mean of dust concentration, lead concentration and toluene concentration were $0.38mg/m^3,\;0.0021mg/m^3$ and 1.08ppm respectively. In addition, the geometric mean of blood lead levels and urine hippuric acid concentration were $1.70{\mu}g/dl$ and 0.25g/g respectively, which were lower than the standard levels suggested by the Ministry of Labor. To determine the influential factors on blood lead and urine hippuric acid concentrations, a correlation analysis has been conducted with variables of air, lead and toluene concentrations, age, length of work experience and amount of cigarette smoking. According to the analysis, a relatively high correlation (p<0.01) has been observed between air lead concentration and biological sample concentration.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.7-9
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• 2001

The quantitative assessment of the penetration of organic solvents through skin is necessary for the evaluation of health hazards in occupational environments. We investigated the rate of dermal penetration when mixed or single forms of organic solvents were placed into a diffusion cell in vitro or into an experimental animal in vivo. The diffusion rates of methanol. toluene, and styrene were 6.07, 0.129, and 0.046 mg/$cm^2$/h, respectively. When skin was exposed to the mixed solvent of methanol and toluene, the penetration rate of toluene did not change significantly (0.110 mg/$cm^2$/h). However, the rate of methanol penetration increased to 43.90 mg/$\textrm{cm}^2$/h. The penetration rate of methanol also increased significantly to 54.69 mg/$cm^2$/h by mixing it with styrene. The concentration of methanol in the blood was monitored during the epicutaneous exposure in rats. The blood concentration of methanol was increased by mixing methanol with toluene as seen in the in vitro experiments. These results showed that the penetration rate of organic solvents would be enhanced by mixing them with other solvents.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.45-50
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• 2000

Objectives : This study was undertaken to evaluate correlation between the levels of hippuric acid in blood plasma (HAP) and those of toluene concentration in the workplace air. Methods : Study subjects were composed of two groups; 21 workers who were occupationally exposed to toluene and 25 rural-area residents who were not exposed to any known occupational toluene source, as an exposed group and a reference group, respectively. Mean age and work duration of the exposed was 42 years and five years, respectively. Mean age of the reference was 42 years. To determine toluene concentrations in the workplace air, air sampling has been conducted for more than six hours using a personal sampler, and analyzed by a gas chromatography-flame ionization detector. Concentrations of hippuric acid in biological samples were determined by a high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detector. Results : Geometric mean(geometric standard deviation) of HAP and hippuric acid in urine(HAU) for the exposed was 1.39(2.21) mg/L and 2.77(1.46) g/L, respectively, which were significantly different from those of the reference [HAP, 9.45(2.94); HAU, 0.37(0.45)]. Teluene concentration in the workplace air was 86.92(range: $45.18\sim151.23$)ppm. The level of HAP or HAU was significantly correlated (r=0.70 and r=0.63, respectively) with that of toluene in the workplace air. The estimated regression equation was logHAP(mg/L)=-3.60+1.93 log(toluene, ppm) or logHAU(g/L)=-0.85+0.67 log(toluene, ppm). The magnitude of correlation was further enhanced when analyzing relationship between toluene concentrations lower than 100 ppm and its corresponding HAP levels. Conclusion : Overall, plasma hippuric acid levels were well correlated with toluene concentrations in the workplace air, and a statistically significant correlation was observed for the samples with toluene concentration lower than 100 ppm.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.19 no.2 s.20
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• pp.177-183
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• 1986

Subjective symptoms, counts of blood cells and liver function test were conducted on 198 male workers who were exposed to toluene in Kyungin area from September to November, 1986. According to the level of urinary hippuric acid concentration, the total sample was classified into the high exposure group ($concentration{\geqq}3g/1$) and the low exposure group(concentration<3g/1). The following findings were obtained by comparing the two group: 1) Contrary to the previous findings. the urinary hippuric acid concentration of toluene exposed workers showed bimodal distribution. It meant that the toluene exposed workers were mixed with the non-exposed or minimal exposed workers. 2) The high exposure group showed a lower level of leucocytes counts ($6,630{\pm}1,860{\mu}l$) than the low exposure group ($6,340{\pm}1,960/{\mu}l$). 3) The high exposure group showed a higher level of SGOT, SGPT and r-GTP than the low exposure group (p<0.05). 4) The high exposure group complained much more subjective symptoms (e. g. skin rash, loss of appetite, palpitation) than the low exposure group.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.577-582
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• 1999

The blood toluene concentration was determined by using the GC/MSD with HS-SPME technique in postmortem blood, quantitatively. Butane gases was analyzed by using the GC/FID with HS technique in postmortem blood, qualitatively. Seventy five cases of dead associated with inhalation of glue or butane gases happened in Korea for the last 3 years (1996-1998). In 27 cases of deah due to glue sniffing, nine persons died as a result of a fall while intoxication and their blood tolucne concentration was fairly high in the range of $1.3{\sim}21.6{\mu}g/mL$. In case of death due to butane sniffing, fifty four persons died of acute butane gases inhalation or suffocation, and 6 persons died of butane gases as well as glue inhalation.