N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) vapor absorption through the skin in workers

N,N-Dimethylformamide (DMF, CAS 68-12-2) is known to be one of the water-soluble organic solvents with a markedly high skin absorption rate. In volunteer exposure experiments of DMF vapor in laboratories, the proportions of the skin absorption to the total absorption were reported to be 14-39%1), 13-39%2), and 22-70%3). However, it may not be appropriate to simply extrapolate these results to the working population, because working conditions influencing DMF vapor absorption, for example, temperature, humidity, physical activity, etc., are quite different from those of the volunteer laboratory exposure experiments. This study aimed to clarify the significance of the skin absorption of DMF vapor at worksites.