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Niedrigdosisexposition durch Holzschutzmittel vor und nach der Sanierung eines kontaminierten Gebäudes

Aim: After the renovation of a historical building for use as modern offices it became known that during a former renovation in 1977/1978 the exposed wooden beams had been treated with wood preservatives containing pentachlorophenol (PCP) and γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH). We investigated the effect of applying a protective woodcoating and the relationship between indoor air concentrations and possible health complaints, clinical and laboratory parameters for persons working in this building. Method: 28 of 36 office workers participated in the study before the protective coating was applied to the wooden beams and 26 office workers afterwards. The persons were medically examined and filled in a standardized questionnaire. Together with other laboratory parameters, biomonitoring of PCPlevels in serum and urine was carried out. Indoor air PCP and γ-HCH concentrations were analysed separately for all rooms before the beams were coated and afterwards. Results: The concentrations of PCP and γ-HCH in indoor air decreased, but the effect on the γ-HCH concentrations was less marked than that on PCP. The initial PCP levels in serum and urine were mostly higher than population reference values but after the beams had been coated they returned to normal values in nearly all cases. There was no evidence for a correlation between the levels of exposure to wood preservatives and indicators of adverse effects on health of the office workers in this building, nor for any improvement after the beams had been coated. Conclusions: The protective wood-coating proved to be an effective method of decreasing indoor air pollution with PCP and γ-HCH. Adverse effects on health in this low concentration range were not detectable. Discussion of the results and risk assessment with the office workers proved to be a sensible way of reducing any remaining worries.