Airborne arsenic and urinary excretion of metabolites of inorganic arsenic among smelter workers

Abstract

The relationship between airborne concentrations of arsenic and the urinary excretion of inorganic arsenic metabolites (inorganic arsenic + methylarsonic acid + dimethylarsinic acid) have been studied among smelter workers exposed to arsenic trioxide. The urinary concentrations of arsenic metabolites were found to increase steadily during the first day of the working week (after 2-3 d off from work), whereafter they reached a steady state. The concentration in the late evening after a day of exposure was very similar to that in the early morning after. Both were well correlated to the total daily excretion. In the second part of the study, comprising 18 subjects, the first-void morning urine of each participant was collected for 2 to 3 d during the steady-state phase. Total concentration of arsenic in the breathing zones was measured by personal air samplers. Airborne arsenic (8-h values) varied between 1 and 194 micrograms As/m3, and urinary arsenic between 16 and 328 micrograms As/g creatinine. With the urinary arsenic concentrations (mean values of 2-3 d for each subject) plotted against the corresponding airborne arsenic concentrations, the best fit was obtained by a power curve with the equation y = 17 X X0.56. However, four of the participants were found to excrete far more (105-260%) arsenic in the urine than possibly could have been inhaled, most likely due to oral intake of arsenic via contaminated hands, cigarettes or snuff. If these four were excluded, the best fit was obtained by a straight regression line with the slope 2.0 and the intercept 29 micrograms As/g creatinine (coefficient of correlation 0.92; P less than 0.001).