Decreased plasma half-life of phenylbutazone in workers exposed to chlorinated pesticides

Abstract

The plasma half-life of a single oral dose of phenylbutazone was investigated in 14 men occupationally exposed to a mixture of insecticides, mainly lindane, and in 12 matched controls with significantly lower plasma levels of lindane. — The mean plasma half-life of phenylbutazone was significantly shorter (p<0.05) in the subjects exposed to lindane than in the non-exposed controls, but there was no relationship between the half-life of phenylbutazone and the plasma level of lindane. No correlation was found between the plasma half-life of phenylbutazone and that of antipyrine determined in the same subjects two years previously. If the plasma half-life of phenylbutazone is accepted as an index of the metabolism of this drug, then the shorter half-lives found in the exposed subjects suggest that the metabolism of this compound can be enhanced by such environmental factors as exposure to chlorinated insecticides.