Phenol is of particular concern because recent research indicating that phenol exposure can result in chronic toxicity [ 1]. While no direct human evidence is available, there is recent evidence of carcinogenicity of phenol at high concentrations in experimental animals [ 2]. At present, work with phenol is subject to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations. Apart from the industrial workers, there are other occupations with high risk for phenol exposure. Policemen is another occupation at risk for phenol exposure.
Phenol can be found at high level in the traffic area, therefore, people living in the urban area of big city are highly exposed to traffic phenol vapor [ 3, 4]. For monitoring of phenol exposure, peripheral biomarker can be used. Urine phenol level is the standard biomarker for phenol exposure. This biomarker is widely used for the industrial workers. However, there is limited information on using this biomarker for the general population in the urban area. In this work, the author studied the urine phenol level among a sample of healthy subjects in urban area of Bangkok