Airborne exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and urinary excretion of 1-hydroxypyrene of carbon anode plant workers

Abstract

Abstract-(Workers in plants producing carbon anodes for aluminium electrolysis are exposed to PAHs containing coal tar pitch volatiles, pitch and coke. The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene to characterize respiratory exposure to PAH, which is most relevant for assessing individual health risks. Six workers in a carbon anode plant volunteered to take part in a personal air sampling and a biological monitoring programme lasting five consecutive 8-h shifts to determine occupational exposure to airborne PAHs and urinary excretion of 1-hydroxypyrene. Exposure to total PAH for all worksites varied from 3.99 to 120.6 ug PAH m"* and for benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) from 0.17 to 4.88 /ig BaP m~3. The concentration of 1-hydroxypyrene in post-and pre-shift urine samples was in the range (0.5-61.8 iano\ 1-OHP per mol creatinine) and depended on the worksite. The Spearman rank correlation test showed a low but significant (P<0.05) correlation of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene in the post-and pre-shift samples with respiratory pyrene exposure. The quantitative aspects of biological monitoring for the evaluation of respiratory PAH exposure were tested with a pharmflcokinetic model. On the basis of individual pyrene exposure, excretion of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene during the working week was calculated for each worker. The results presented in this investigation indicate that biological monitoring of the pyrene metabolite 1-hydroxypyrene is a useful indicator of a general PAH exposure, but cannot replace personal air sampling for assessing the lung cancer risk of individuals^

Correlation between biomarkers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure and electrophilic tissue burden in a rat model

“…1 is verified for BaP/P ratios equal to 0.2 and 1. However, these two BaP/P ratios correspond to those encountered in work environments (Petry et al 1996;Bieniek 1998;Gu¨ndel et al 2000), contrary to the BaP/P ratio of 5. In order words, for this last scenario the deviation from the expected linearity in the relationship examined for the liver and lung tissue was not considered an important issue for the typical occupational environments.…”

Comparison of 1-hydroxypyrene exposure in the US population with that in occupational exposure studies

“…Long-term monitoring of average urinary 1-OHpyrene, as part of epidemiological studies of cancer mortality, is needed to establish an accurate healthbased limit value of this biomarker for occupational PAH exposure. Carbon electrode worker 0.5-62 1.0-117 Bentsen et al (1998), Mannschreck et al (1996), Petry et al (1996), Ovrebo et al (1994), Ferreira et al (1994) and Angerer et al (1997) Coke oven operator 0.2-176 0.4-334 Strunk et al (2002), Wu et al (1998a, b), Kuljukka et al (1997), Mielzynska et al (1997), Pyy et al (1997), VanRooij et al (1993, Zhao et al (1990), Ferreira et al (1994) and Moen and Ovrebo (1997) …”

Urinary naphthalene and phenanthrene as biomarkers of occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

“…For this analysis, we consider air levels of both Nap and Phe that were reported along with various other PAHs in several workplaces. The data include 32 measurements (area, breathing-zone and personal samples) for up to 39 PAHs in a coke production plant,15 three measurements (grouped personal samples from 24 individuals) for 16 PAHs in a coke-production plant,17 28 measurements (including area and personal samples) for up to 36 PAHs in an aluminium reduction plant16 and six measurements (midrange of five personal samples from 6 workers) for 26 PAHs in a carbon anode plant 18…”

“…We show that urinary levels of Nap and Phe in these workers followed the expected low, medium and high designations of the sources and that they were highly correlated, suggesting a common source of exposure to Nap and Phe in each group. We further compare results from measurements of urinary Nap and Phe with published data representing air concentrations of Nap, Phe and total PAHs in the coke-producing and aluminium-producing industries 15 – 18…”