Occupational and environmental exposure to tribromophenol used for wood surface protection in sawmills

This study analyses the occupational and environmental conditions of sawmills where the lumber is protected from microorganism action by dipping it in 2,4,6 tribromophenol (TBP). Three processes were evaluated: hydraulic immersion, chain conveyor system and manual immersion. The biggest occupational exposure to TBP was registered in manual and chain conveyor systems. The average values in the workers' urine for TBP were 6.9 and 5.7 mg/g creatinine, respectively. For environmental exposure, the highest value in well waters was 25.1 mu g/L and in soil was 4,602 mg/kg. It could be established that the hydraulic immersion system presents less occupational TBP exposure. Nevertheless, the hydraulic system, as well as the other two anti-stain alternatives, requires the introduction of pollution prevention efforts. To reduce the environmental exposure to TBP, the lumber-dipping tank area, the forklift traffic areas, and the storage areas need to be waterproofed. It is also necessary to implement a TBP solution recovery system to eliminate dripping from the lumber once it is removed from the fungicide dipping tanks.