Reference values for ethylenethiourea in urine in Northern Italy: Results of a pilot study

Occurrence of biomarkers of pesticide exposure in non-invasive human specimens

“…Table 2 shows the rate of detection and the concentrations of the measured biomarkers in various recent studies. The occurrence of ETU in urine was investigated in pregnant women (Castorina et al, 2010) and the general population (Jones et al, 2014;Colosio et al, 2006), with concentrations in the range of a few ng mL À1 and detection frequencies, in general, lower than 50%.…”

Determination of ethylenethiourea in urine by liquid chromatography–atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation–mass spectrometry for monitoring background levels in the general population

“…ETU is a specific metabolite of EBDCs found in urine and has been suggested as a good biomarker of occupational and environmental exposure to ETU or EBDCs. Studies have reported ETU values in both these scenarios [8,11,12] and some provided reference values of ETU in the general population in Italy [11,12] as an aid to interpreting results from monitoring studies. Fustinoni et al published results from other European countries (Bulgaria, Finland and the Netherlands) as well as Italy [13].…”

Environmental and biological monitoring for the identification of main exposure determinants in vineyard mancozeb applicators

“…However, apart from the Acceptable Operator Exposure Level for mancozeb, stabilised in the authorization process (13,14), there is no occupational exposure limit for ETU recommended by any official agency, rendering difficult the interpretation of the results of environmental and biological monitoring of exposure. Several studies investigated the use of ETU as a biomarker of occupational exposure (7,11), and a reference value of 1 mcg/g creatinine was tentatively proposed for the unexposed population of Northern Italy (15). Therefore, even in the absence of officially validated occupational exposure limits, ETU can be used as a valid biological indicator of exposure in biological monitoring of EBDC exposed workers, but further studies could increase the possibilities for its use.…”