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The study regards workers employed in manual metal are welding of stainless steel (MMA/SS). For two weeks they collected their urine during the work shift and the 16 hours following in order to evaluate the kinetics of nickel. Using one-compartment mathematical modelling we calculated the values of the toxicant's urinary half life during the two phases of exposure and postexposure and also during non working weekends. The aim of the study was to find correlations between inhaled doses and excreted quantities and to acquire practical data for use in biological monitoring. In the welders the mean urinary half life in the exposure period was 59.5 hours, in the post exposure it was 95.6 hours, while in weekend it was 95.5 hours. The study showed that exposure to fumes containing nickel could determine the accumulation of the metal in slow elimination speed compartment. As a consequence of the accumulation of nickel in compartments with different elimination speeds, the collection of single urinary portions in biological monitoring seems to give little information about the actual exposure. In our opinion this indicates collecting urine samples throughout the entire work shift and the 16 hours following exposure.

Atrazine exposure was evaluated in three workers engaged in technical Atrazine dust formulating and bagging processes, by environmental and biological monitoring. We found an Atrazine concentration in breathing area of 31.2 micrograms/m3 (SD +/- 9.9); actual inhalatory absorption was 20.7 micrograms/workshift. Cutaneous amount was 6 mg per workshift and the largest fraction was found on hands. Supposing that only 3.5% of the applied was absorbed, 239.7 micrograms of Atrazine were taken up by skin per workshift. The dealkylated metabolites and parent compound excreted in urine, as a whole, accounted for 71.09% of the presumed total dose absorbed. The spectrum or the urinary Atrazine metabolites comprised bi-dealkylated (58%), deethylated (30.7%), deisopropylated (7.7%) and unmodified Atrazine (3.6%). About 31% of the amount is excreted during the workshift itself. These findings allow to evaluate the magnitude of the real doses absorbed, keeping into account the effect of protective means.

We report the case of a 73-year-old worker who died of pleural mesothelioma, after being employed for 35 years in a wool textile plant of Biella (Italy). Close investigations revealed that he provided for the maintenance of materials and machines. In particular, he used to replace asbestos parts such as rings, joints and insulations of pipelines (dyeing unit), as well as brake linings of warping, looming and combing machines. Beside confirming the importance of an accurate occupational anamnesis to recognize work-induced cancers, the case draws the attention on the risk of mesothelioma in the wool industry, an occupational setting that is not usually considered as a potential source of exposure to asbestos fibres. Such pollution might explain the increased mortality due to pleural mesothelioma in the Biella area (characterized by a prosperous textile industry), reported in previous epidemiological studies.