Air, hand wipe, and surface wipe sampling for Bisphenol A (BPA) among workers in industries that manufacture and use BPA in the United States

For decades, bisphenol A (BPA) has been used in making polycarbonate, epoxy, and phenolic resins and certain investment castingwaxes, yet published exposure data are lacking for U.S. manufacturing workers. In 2013-2014, BPA air and hand exposureswere quantified for 78workers at six U.S. companies making BPA or BPA-based products. Exposuremeasures included an inhalable-fraction personal air sample on each of two consecutive work days (n = 146), pre-and end-shift hand wipe samples on the second day (n = 74 each), and surface wipe samples (n = 88). Potential determinants of BPA air and end-shift hand exposures (after natural log transformation) were assessed in univariate and multiple regression mixed models. The geometric mean (GM) BPA air concentration was 4.0 mu g/m(3) (maximum 920 mu g/m(3)). The end-shift GM BPA hand level (26 mu g/sample) was 10-times higher than the pre-shift level (2.6 mu g/sample). BPA air and hand exposures differed significantly by industry and job. BPA air concentrations and end-shift hand levels were highest in the BPA-filled wax manufacturing/reclaim industry (GM(Air) = 48 mu g/m(3), GM (Hand-End) = 130 mu g/sample) and in the job of working with molten BPA-filled wax (GM(Air) = 43 mu g/m(3), GM(Hand-End) = 180 mu g/sample), and lowest in the phenolic resins industry (GM(Air) = 0.85 mu g/m(3), GM(Hand-End) = 0.43 mu g/sample) and in the job of flaking phenolic resins (GM(AIR) = 0.62 mu g/m(3), GM(Hand-End) = 0.38 mu g/sample). Determinants of increased BPA air concentration were industry, handling BPA containers, spilling BPA, and spending >= 50% of the shift in production areas; increasing age was associated with lower air concentrations. BPA hand exposure determinants were influenced by high values for two workers; for all other workers, tasks involving contact with BPA-containing materials and spending >= 50% of the shift in production areas were associated with increased BPA hand levels. Surface wipe BPA levels were significantly lower in eating/office areas (GM = 9.3 mu g/100 cm(2)) than in production areas (GM = 140 mu g/100 cm(2)). In conclusion, worker BPA exposure was associated with tasks and conditions affecting both inhalation and dermal exposure. The potential for BPA-related health effects among these workers is unknown.