Investigation of some effective factors on urinary metabolites in biological monitoring of benzene, toluene, and xylene compounds

The present study was performed to identify possible factors affecting the biological monitoring of benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) metabolites. Fifty persons with occupational exposure to BTX and 28 administrative employees were evaluated. Urinary trans, trans-muconic acid (t,t-MA), Hippuric Acid (HA) and Methyl Hippuric Acid (MHA) were determined as the biomarkers of exposure. The mean levels of t,t-MA, HA, and MHA in the exposed group were 541.90 (mu gg creatinine(-1)), 0.0199, and 0.00205 (gg creatinine(-1)), respectively, which were higher than the non-exposed group (significant difference, P-value <0.001). In the regression model obtained from the amount of urinary t,t-MA, level of education, work experience, residence, length of work per shift, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and habit of consuming industrial food or fruit juice had a significant effect. HA levels were affected by variables including education level, residence, consumption of industrial food or fruit juice in the past three days, and use of masks, gloves, and PPE. Due to the small amount of MHA in urine, there was a weak correlation between it and independent variables. Based on results, it was concluded that the health effects of exposure to BTX were significantly different between the two groups.

Automated summary

This study aimed to identify the factors that may affect the biological monitoring of benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) metabolites. The results showed significant differences in the levels of biomarkers between the exposed and non-exposed groups. The regression model demonstrated that level of education, work experience, residence, length of work per shift, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and consumption of industrial food or fruit juice significantly affected the biomarker levels.