Early indicators of renal damage in workers exposed to organic solvents

Abstract

In order to investigate the renal function, a cross-sectional study was carried out on four groups of workers significantly exposed to a mixture of alicyclic and aliphatic C5-C7 hydrocarbons, to styrene, to a mixture mostly composed of toluene and xylenes and to chlorinated hydrocarbons, respectively. The study involved 438 workers. Exposure was characterized by means of urinary metabolites, or by means of environmental measures, when biological indicators were not available. The renal function impairment indicators included total proteinuria, albuminuria and urinary excretion of muramidase (E.C. 3.2.1.17) and beta-glucuronidase (E.C. 3.2.1.31). The trend of these parameters provides some evidence of renal damage due to occupational exposure to organic solvents and suggests that the lesions are mild and tubular rather than glomerular.

Solvent Nephrotoxicity in Humans and Experimental Animals

“…In a similar study [42], four groups of solvent-exposed workers were examined for signs of renal impairment. The groups included 57 dry cleaners exposed to perchloroethylene, 118 painters exposed to benzene homologues, 51 boat and silo manufacturing employees ex posed to styrene and 212 shoemakers exposed to alkane hydrocarbons.…”

Immunologic and renal markers among photogravure printers exposed to toluene

“…Most of these studies concerned painters exposed to several solvents, but others involved printers whose solvent exposure was limited almost exclusively to toluene (table 1). The studies of painters have yielded contradictory results, glomemlar and tubular renal alterations being found in 3 studies (9-1 I), tubular alterations only in 2 others (12,13), and no effect in the final 2 (14,15). Different exposure levels did not explain the variations.…”

S-(1,2,2-Trichlorovinyl)-l-cysteine Sulfoxide, a Reactive Metabolite ofS-(1,2,2-Trichlorovinyl)-l-cysteine Formed in Rat Liver and Kidney Microsomes, Is a Potent Nephrotoxicant

“…Additional epidemiological studies have shown increases in kidney cancers (Katz and Jowett, 1981;Duh and Asal, 1984;Antilla et al, 1995). Studies of workers exposed to low concentrations of TETRA have reported increased urinary levels of lysozyme, albumin, ␤-glucuronidase, and the brush-border membrane antigens B50, BBA, and HF5 (Franchini et al, 1983;Mutti et al, 1992). Another study of Dutch workers exposed to TETRA at levels well below the Dutch occupational exposure limit (7.9 versus 240 mg/m 3 ) showed increased levels of retinol-binding protein compared with controls (Verplanke et al, 1999).…”