Occupational dimethylformamide exposure. 3. Health effects of dimethylformamide after occupational exposure at low concentrations.

A factory survey was conducted in a plant where N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) was in use during the production of polyurethane plastics and related materials. In all, 318 DMF-exposed workers (195 men and 123 women) and 143 non-exposed controls (67 men and 76 women) were examined for time-weighted average exposure (to DMF and other solvents by diffusive sampling), hematology, serum biochemistry, subjective symptoms, and clinical signs. Most of the exposed workers were exposed only to DMF, whereas others were exposed to a combination of DMF and toluene. DMF exposure in the former group was up to 7.0 ppm (geometric mean on a workshop basis), whereas it was up to 2.1 ppm in combination with 4.2 ppm toluene. Both hematology and serum biochemistry, results (including aspartate and alanine aminotransferases, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and amylase) were essentially comparable among the 3 groups. There was, however, a dose-dependent increase in subjective symptoms, especially during work, and in digestive system-related symptoms such as nausea and abdominal pain in the past 3-month period. The prevalence rate of alcohol intolerance complaints among male (assumedly) social drinkers was also elevated in relation to DMF dose.