The object of this study was to assess potential dermal exposure to the non-volatile fractions of paints based on studies assessing potential exposure during the painting process in car body repair shops with water-based paints. The measurements were done during filling of the spray gun, paint spraying and cleaning of the gun. Potential dermal exposure was assessed using patches and gloves as dosimeters and analysing deposits of aluminium, a constituent of the paint mixture, which is used as a chemical tracer for these studies. The total body area used excluding hands was 18 720 cm(2) and the area of each hand was 410 cm(2). Dermal exposure to the paint during filling of the spray gun occurs mainly on the hands and ranged from 0.68 to 589 micro g paint/cm(2)/min, as calculated from the amount of aluminium observed and the concentration of aluminium in the paint. During spraying, the levels of exposure of the hands and body ranged from 0.20 to 4.35 micro g paint/cm(2)/min for the body and 0.40 to 13.4 micro g paint/cm(2)/min for the hands. With cleaning of the spray gun the hands were the principal area exposed, with values ranging from 0.44 to 213 micro g paint/cm(2)/min. Information on and observations of each of the scenarios were recorded in a structured questionnaire.