No acute effects of an exposure to 50 ppm methyl methacrylate on the upper airways

作者：Muttray A^*; Gosepath J; Brieger J; Faldum A; Zagar C; Mayer Popken O; Jung D; Ros**ach B; Mann W; Letzel S

来源：International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2015, 88(8): 1043-1051.

DOI：10.1007/s00420-015-1029-y

• Methyl methacrylate
• Inhalation
• Upper airways
• Inflammation
• Olfactory threshold
• Mucociliary transport

The German MAK value of methyl methacrylate has been fixed at 50 ppm. The aim of this study was to evaluate possible acute effects of an exposure to 50 ppm methyl methacrylate on the upper airways of human subjects.
Twenty healthy subjects were exposed to 50 ppm methyl methacrylate and to air (sham) in an exposure chamber for 4 h according to a crossover design. Symptoms were assessed by the SPES questionnaire. Olfactory thresholds for n-butanol and mucociliary transport time were measured before and after exposure. Concentrations of interleukin 1 and interleukin 8 were determined in nasal secretions taken after exposure. mRNA levels of interleukins 1, 6 and 8, tumor necrosis factor alpha, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, monocyte chemotactic protein 1, and cyclooxygenases 1 and 2 were measured in nasal epithelial cells, obtained after exposure. Possible effects were investigated by semiparametric and parametric crossover analyses.
The score of the item "irritation to the nose" was slightly elevated following exposure to methyl methacrylate (p a parts per thousand currency sign 0.01). Olfactory functioning was not impaired. Mucociliary transport time did not change. Neither concentrations of interleukins in nasal secretions nor mRNA levels were elevated.
Only minor irritating effects on the nose were observed. The acute exposure to 50 ppm methyl methacrylate did not cause any adverse effects. However, the results cannot be extrapolated to chronic exposure.

• 出版日期2015-11
• 单位河北医科大学