Air, hand wipe, and surface wipe sampling for Bisphenol A (BPA) among workers in industries that manufacture and use BPA in the United States

ABSTRACT

For decades, bisphenol A (BPA) has been used in making polycarbonate, epoxy, and phenolic resins and certain investment casting waxes, yet published exposure data are lacking for U.S. manufacturing workers.

In 2013–2014, BPA air and hand exposures were quantified for 78 workers at six U.S. companies making BPA or BPA-based products. Exposure measures included an inhalable-fraction personal air sample on each of two consecutive work days (n = 146), pre- and end-shift hand wipe samples on the second day (n = 74 each), and surface wipe samples (n = 88). Potential determinants of BPA air and end-shift hand exposures (after natural log transformation) were assessed in univariate and multiple regression mixed models.

The geometric mean (GM) BPA air concentration was 4.0 µg/m³ (maximum 920 µg/m³). The end-shift GM BPA hand level (26 µg/sample) was 10-times higher than the pre-shift level (2.6 µg/sample). BPA air and hand exposures differed significantly by industry and job. BPA air concentrations and end-shift hand levels were highest in the BPA-filled wax manufacturing/reclaim industry (GM_Air = 48 µg/m³, GM_Hand-End = 130 µg/sample) and in the job of working with molten BPA-filled wax (GM_Air = 43 µg/m³, GM_Hand-End = 180 µg/sample), and lowest in the phenolic resins industry (GM_Air = 0.85 µg/m³, GM_Hand-End = 0.43 µg/sample) and in the job of flaking phenolic resins (GM_AIR = 0.62 µg/m³, GM_Hand-End = 0.38 µg/sample). Determinants of increased BPA air concentration were industry, handling BPA containers, spilling BPA, and spending ≥50% of the shift in production areas; increasing age was associated with lower air concentrations. BPA hand exposure determinants were influenced by high values for two workers; for all other workers, tasks involving contact with BPA-containing materials and spending ≥50% of the shift in production areas were associated with increased BPA hand levels. Surface wipe BPA levels were significantly lower in eating/office areas (GM = 9.3 µg/100 cm²) than in production areas (GM = 140 µg/100 cm²).

In conclusion, worker BPA exposure was associated with tasks and conditions affecting both inhalation and dermal exposure. The potential for BPA-related health effects among these workers is unknown.

KEYWORDS:

• Endocrine disruption
• exposure assessment
• exposure determinants
• occupational

Disclaimer

The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Mention of any company or product does not constitute endorsement by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Donna Olsen to recruitment efforts, Donald Fleming, Kevin L. Dunn, Belinda Johnson, Deborah Sammons, Kenneth Sparks, Donald Booher, Kevin Moore, and Jonathan Slone to field support and data preparation, and Cheryl Estill and Steven Schrader to protocol development. We especially appreciate the contributions of participating workers, companies and unions.

Funding

This study was supported in part by an interagency agreement between the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (AES12009) as a collaborative National Toxicology Program research activity.