Ann. occup. Hyg., Vol. 46, No. 2, pp. 229-235, 2002
© 2002 British Occupational Hygiene Society
Published by Oxford University Press
Article |
Urinary 1-Hydroxypyrene as a Biomarker of Internal Dose of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Carbon Black Workers
1Graduate Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health, Medical College, National Cheng Kung University, 138, Sheng-Li Road, Tainan 70428; 2Southern Labor Inspectory Bureau, Council of Labor Affairs, Executive Yuan. Fl. 7, 386, Chi-Hsien 1st Road, Kaohsiung 80101; 3Department of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, 1, University Road, Tainan 70101; 4Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Council of Labor Affairs, Executive Yuan. 4F, 132, Sec. 3, Ming-Sheng E. Road, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
Received 11 April 2001; in final form 23 July 2001.
In this study, a total of 30 workers were selected, including eight wet pelletizing workers and 22 packaging workers. For all selected workers, urine samples were collected on the first day pre-shift, first day post-shift and fifth day post-shift, and their urinary 1-hydroxylpyrene levels (1-OHP) were determined (denoted as BM1pre, BM1post and BM5post, respectively). Personal respiratory exposures, including both inhalable particle-bound PAHs (Cinh) and gaseous PAHs (Cgas), together with dermal exposure to particle-bound PAHs (Cskin) were measured. Personal background information, including age, sex and smoking habit, was carefully registered. Pyrene exposure was statistically significantly correlated with exposure to PAHs and carcinogenic PAHs. Multiple linear regression analysis results showed that the BM1post values could not be explained by workers’ exposures. For BM5post in packaging workers, both the regression model (R2 = 0.73) and the regression coefficients for Cgas, Cinh and Cskin were statistically significant (P < 0.05). For pelletizing workers, the R2 value was higher but was not statistically significant because of the smaller number of workers. The resultant regression coefficients for ‘sex’, ‘smoking habit’ and ‘age’ were statistically insignificant (P >> 0.05), which could be because these variables made relatively small contributions to BM5post. In conclusion, this study suggests BM5post could be a suitable indicator for PAH exposures of carbon black workers, on the condition that both respiratory (including gaseous PAHs and particle-bound PAHs) and dermal exposures have been assessed.
Keywords: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; 1-hydroxypyrene; carbon black; biological monitoring; pyrene