Accumulation of formic-acid (64186) in the urine following exposure to methanol (67561) was studied. Human subjects were exposed to methanol vapor 7 hours per day for 5 days and urinary methanol and formic-acid levels were monitored before and after each exposure. The mean methanol exposure level was 200.9 parts per million (ppm) over the study period with an 8 hour time weighted average methanol exposure of 176ppm for the week. Increases in mean urinary methanol concentrations were seen at the end of each daily exposure session but these returned to baseline values after 16 hours. No changes were seen in the levels of urinary formic-acid in morning samples over the study period. The authors conclude that urinary formic- acid does not accumulate during 5 days of exposure to methanol at levels approaching the maximal permissible exposure limit and that measurement of urinary formic-acid 16 hours after exposure is not useful for identifying methanol exposure on the preceding day.
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