[Biomonitoring of human exposure to triazine herbicides].

Triazine herbicides are very common and only 0.1 % reach the target pests, while the rest moves into other environmental compartments. Their fate in the environment depends on their movement through the air, water, and soil and on the rate of their degradation or transformation. Triazine compounds may be transformed by water, microorganisms, and sunlight. Widespread use and persistence of triazine herbicides in soil has resulted in contamination of surface, drinking, and even rain water with parent compounds and degradation products, posing a risk to the general population.The metabolism and effects of triazine herbicides have been studied in experimental animals and in experiments in vitro. There are only a few studies of their metabolism and excretion in humans. Agricultural and manufacturing workers are exposed to triazines during application and production. Human exposure is monitored by determining parent compounds and their metabolites in urine. Due to the low concentrations of urinary metabolites in occupationally exposed persons, very sensitive analytical methods are required. This paper describes the structure and properties of symmetric triazine herbicides, their metabolism, and effects in humans and animals and the levels of these compounds in the urine of occupationally exposed persons.