US EPA

5360540 

Journal Article 

A method for the determination of 1-naphthol in urine 

Shafik, MT; Sullivan, HC; Enos, HF 

1971 

Yes 

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
ISSN: 0007-4861
EISSN: 1432-0800 

6 

1 

34-39 

English 

4341594 

10.1007/bf01559071 

WOS:A1971I769400010 

HEEP COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. Humans exposed industrially to the insecticide carbaryl (1-naphthyl N-methylcarbamate) excrete relatively large quantities of 1-naphthol. A standard of 1-naphthyl chloroacetate was prepared and purified using silica gel column chromatography. A comparison of the electron-capture detector response of 1-naphthol carried through the procedure and an equivalent amount of the purified 1-naphthyl chloroacetate indicates that essentially 100% conversion to the chloroacetate derivative is achieved. Both IR and mass spectral data were identical for the purified standard and a compound identified in the analytical procedure as the chloroacetate derivative of 1-naphthol. The source of 1-naphthol in this case was from the urine of an individual industrially exposed to carbaryl. Samples of urine, obtained from formulators and farmers exposed to carbaryl at various levels, were analyzed in order to ascertain the applicability of the procedure to a wide range of concentrations of 1-naphthol. Concentrations varied from 6.2-78.8 ppm of 1-naphthol in the urine of persons who work as formulators of technical carbaryl at a manufacturing plant, while agricultural workers who used carbaryl for pest control purposes excreted from 0.7-1.7 ppm. The evidence presented and the results of the analysis of urine from individuals exposed at high and low levels indicate that this method can be used to monitor exposure to carbaryl. The limit of detectability was determined as 0.02 ppm. It is a rapid and sensitive method and the results are reproducible over a wide range of concentrations.