Abstract

Isocyanates are recognized respiratory and skin sensitizers and chemical irritants. Overexposure to isocyanate monomers and oligomers in the workplace is associated with occupational asthma.

It is therefore important to be able to measure workers’ exposure to all forms of isocyanates. However, sampling these chemical substances poses numerous challenges associated with their reactivity and the fact that they sometimes occur in airborne vapour or aerosol form. Biological monitoring is one way of measuring the total amounts absorbed by workers, taking into account absorption by inhalation, ingestion or skin contact.

This laboratory activity seeks to implement a method of liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry to measure diaminodiphenylmethane (DAPM) – a biomarker of exposure to isocyanates – in workers’ urine.