Cargando…

Urinary Mercapturic Acids to Assess Exposure to Benzene and Other Volatile Organic Compounds in Coke Oven Workers

Coke production was classified as carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Besides polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, coke oven workers may be exposed to benzene and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The aim of this study was to assess the exposure to several...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Frigerio, Gianfranco, Campo, Laura, Mercadante, Rosa, Mielżyńska-Švach, Danuta, Pavanello, Sofia, Fustinoni, Silvia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7084241/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32164281
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051801
_version_ 1783508676376526848
author Frigerio, Gianfranco
Campo, Laura
Mercadante, Rosa
Mielżyńska-Švach, Danuta
Pavanello, Sofia
Fustinoni, Silvia
author_facet Frigerio, Gianfranco
Campo, Laura
Mercadante, Rosa
Mielżyńska-Švach, Danuta
Pavanello, Sofia
Fustinoni, Silvia
author_sort Frigerio, Gianfranco
collection PubMed
description Coke production was classified as carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Besides polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, coke oven workers may be exposed to benzene and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The aim of this study was to assess the exposure to several VOCs in 49 coke oven workers and 49 individuals living in the same area by determining urinary mercapturic acids. Active tobacco smoking was an exclusion criterion for both groups. Mercapturic acids were investigated by a validated isotopic dilution LC-MS/MS method. Linear models were built to correct for different confounding variables. Urinary levels of N-acetyl-S-phenyl-L-cysteine (SPMA) (metabolite of benzene), N-acetyl-S-(2-hydroxy-1/2-phenylethyl)-L-cysteine (PHEMA) (metabolite of styrene), N-acetyl-S-(2-cyanoethyl)-L-cysteine (CEMA) (metabolite of acrylonitrile), N-acetyl-S-[1-(hydroxymethyl)-2-propen-1-yl)-L-cysteine and N-acetyl-S-(2-hydroxy-3-buten-1-yl)-L-cysteine (MHBMA) (metabolites of 1,3-butadiene) were 2–10 fold higher in workers than in controls (p < 0.05). For SPMA, in particular, median levels were 0.02 and 0.31 µg/g creatinine in workers and controls, respectively. Among workers, coke makers were more exposed to PHEMA and SPMA than foremen and engine operators. The comparison with biological limit values shows that the exposure of workers was within 20% of the limit values for all biomarkers, moreover three subjects exceeded the restrictive occupational limit value recently proposed by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) for SPMA.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7084241
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-70842412020-03-24 Urinary Mercapturic Acids to Assess Exposure to Benzene and Other Volatile Organic Compounds in Coke Oven Workers Frigerio, Gianfranco Campo, Laura Mercadante, Rosa Mielżyńska-Švach, Danuta Pavanello, Sofia Fustinoni, Silvia Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Coke production was classified as carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Besides polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, coke oven workers may be exposed to benzene and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The aim of this study was to assess the exposure to several VOCs in 49 coke oven workers and 49 individuals living in the same area by determining urinary mercapturic acids. Active tobacco smoking was an exclusion criterion for both groups. Mercapturic acids were investigated by a validated isotopic dilution LC-MS/MS method. Linear models were built to correct for different confounding variables. Urinary levels of N-acetyl-S-phenyl-L-cysteine (SPMA) (metabolite of benzene), N-acetyl-S-(2-hydroxy-1/2-phenylethyl)-L-cysteine (PHEMA) (metabolite of styrene), N-acetyl-S-(2-cyanoethyl)-L-cysteine (CEMA) (metabolite of acrylonitrile), N-acetyl-S-[1-(hydroxymethyl)-2-propen-1-yl)-L-cysteine and N-acetyl-S-(2-hydroxy-3-buten-1-yl)-L-cysteine (MHBMA) (metabolites of 1,3-butadiene) were 2–10 fold higher in workers than in controls (p < 0.05). For SPMA, in particular, median levels were 0.02 and 0.31 µg/g creatinine in workers and controls, respectively. Among workers, coke makers were more exposed to PHEMA and SPMA than foremen and engine operators. The comparison with biological limit values shows that the exposure of workers was within 20% of the limit values for all biomarkers, moreover three subjects exceeded the restrictive occupational limit value recently proposed by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) for SPMA. MDPI 2020-03-10 2020-03 /pmc/articles/PMC7084241/ /pubmed/32164281 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051801 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Frigerio, Gianfranco
Campo, Laura
Mercadante, Rosa
Mielżyńska-Švach, Danuta
Pavanello, Sofia
Fustinoni, Silvia
Urinary Mercapturic Acids to Assess Exposure to Benzene and Other Volatile Organic Compounds in Coke Oven Workers
title Urinary Mercapturic Acids to Assess Exposure to Benzene and Other Volatile Organic Compounds in Coke Oven Workers
title_full Urinary Mercapturic Acids to Assess Exposure to Benzene and Other Volatile Organic Compounds in Coke Oven Workers
title_fullStr Urinary Mercapturic Acids to Assess Exposure to Benzene and Other Volatile Organic Compounds in Coke Oven Workers
title_full_unstemmed Urinary Mercapturic Acids to Assess Exposure to Benzene and Other Volatile Organic Compounds in Coke Oven Workers
title_short Urinary Mercapturic Acids to Assess Exposure to Benzene and Other Volatile Organic Compounds in Coke Oven Workers
title_sort urinary mercapturic acids to assess exposure to benzene and other volatile organic compounds in coke oven workers
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7084241/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32164281
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051801
work_keys_str_mv AT frigeriogianfranco urinarymercapturicacidstoassessexposuretobenzeneandothervolatileorganiccompoundsincokeovenworkers
AT campolaura urinarymercapturicacidstoassessexposuretobenzeneandothervolatileorganiccompoundsincokeovenworkers
AT mercadanterosa urinarymercapturicacidstoassessexposuretobenzeneandothervolatileorganiccompoundsincokeovenworkers
AT mielzynskasvachdanuta urinarymercapturicacidstoassessexposuretobenzeneandothervolatileorganiccompoundsincokeovenworkers
AT pavanellosofia urinarymercapturicacidstoassessexposuretobenzeneandothervolatileorganiccompoundsincokeovenworkers
AT fustinonisilvia urinarymercapturicacidstoassessexposuretobenzeneandothervolatileorganiccompoundsincokeovenworkers