NIVELES DE FENOL Y ÁCIDO HIPÚRICO EN TRABAJADORES DE TALLERES DE LATONERIA Y PINTURA, MARACAY, VENEZUELA, 2016.

The use of organic solvents such as benzene and toluene, causes in the people with high exposure a series of serious health effects, among which stand out neurotoxicity and cancer. The objective of this study was to determine the levels of phenol and hippuric acid, in the urine, as biological indicators of exposure to benzene and toluene. A descriptive, observational, cross-correlation and field study was carried out in which 20 workers with occupational exposure to benzene and 20 without occupational exposure participated, with prior informed consent. The Theis-Benedict method was used for the determination of phenol, NIOSH 8300 for hippuric acid and Jaffé modified for the determination of creatinine, in urine samples taken at the end of the working day. Phenol/crea, levels in the exposure group ranged from 98.23 to 102.34 mg/g-crea (Mean = 97.89; SD = 3.69) and 8.21 to 33.21 mg/g-creatinine in the group without exposure (Mean = 15.16; SD = 6.23). In addition, a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed for phenol / crea levels between both groups but not for hippuric acid (p > 0.05). Workers did not wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and work under poor hygiene conditions, which increases exposure to benzene. The low concentration of urinary hippuric acid implies a low toluene exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]