Absorption of cumene through the respiratory tract and excretion of dimethylphenylcarbinol in urine.

Experiments on the absorption of cumene and the excretion of dimethylphenylcarbinol were made on 10 healthy volunteers, five men and five women aged between 20 and 35 years. They were exposed to cumene vapours 240, 480, 720 mg/m3 under controlled conditions. It was found that the average retention of cumene vapours was about 50% which tended to diminish at the end of each exposure. Based on these results, an exposure test that allows one to calculate the absorbed cumene dose during eight hours' work with a precision of about +/- 13.5% was achieved.