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NIOSH Home > Safety and Health Topics >Skin Exposures and Effects >Occupational & Environmental Exposures of Skin to Chemicals- 2005> Abstracts

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Abstract for Poster 41

 

 

Dermal exposure to JP-8 contributes to the production of urinary naphthols

Y-C.E. Chao1, L.L. Kupper2, B. Serdar1, P.P. Egeghy1, S.M. Rappaport1,
L.A. Nylander-French*1
1Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States
2Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Helath, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States

Background

Exposure to JP-8 has been recognized as a major source of chemical exposure for U.S. Air Force fuel-cell maintenance workers. We investigated the contribution of dermal and inhalation exposure to JP-8 to the total body burden using naphthalene as a marker.

Methods

Exposure measurements were obtained using tape-strip sampling for dermal, passive monitoring for breathing zone, and glass bulbs for breath naphthalene concentration. Urinary 1-naphthol and 2-naphthol were used as biomarkers of JP-8 exposure. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate the relative contribution of dermal and/or inhalation exposure to JP-8 as well as smoking to urinary 1-naphthol and 2‑naphthol concentrations.

Results

Our results show that dermal exposure to naphthalene, in addition to inhalation exposure, significantly contributed to the total body burden. Dermal exposure to naphthalene was observed to be a more significant factor for increased level of urinary 2-naphthol than 1-naphthol. As expected, smoking was observed to be a confounder for JP-8 exposure measurements.

Conclusions

We conclude that dermal exposure to JP-8 contributes significantly to increased urinary 1- and 2-naphthol levels and, in some instances, skin is the primary route for exposure.  Furthermore, the efficiency and suitability of the tape-strip technique for the assessment of dermal exposure to and uptake of JP-8 and its components is established. We recommend that dermal exposure monitoring by the tape-strip technique be performed in conjunction with biological monitoring when assessing JP-8 exposure.

 

Content last modified: 18 May 2005

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