Environmental and biological monitoring of traffic wardens from the city of Rome

Abstract

A molecular epidemiological study on Roman policemen is ongoing. The results of a first assessment of the occupational exposure to aromatic compounds of 66 subjects engaged in traffic control and of 33 office workers are presented in this paper. Passive personal samplers and urinary biomarkers were used to assess exposure to benzene and polycyclic hydrocarbons during work shifts. The results obtained indicate that benzene exposure in outdoor workers is about twice as high as in office workers (geometric mean 7.5 and 3.4 micrograms/m3, respectively). The distribution of individual exposure values was asymmetrical and skewed toward higher values, especially among traffic wardens. Environmental benzene levels recorded by municipal monitoring stations during work shifts (geometric mean 11.2 micrograms/m3) were in the first instance comparable to or greater than individual exposure values. However, several outlier values were observed among personal data that greatly exceeded average environmental benzene concentrations. Among the exposure biomarkers investigated, only blood benzene correlated to some extent with previous exposure to benzene, while a seasonal variation in the excretion of 1-hydroxypyrene and trans-muconic acid was observed in both study groups. In conclusion, these results suggest that outdoor work gives a greater contribution than indoor activities to benzene exposure of Roman citizens. Moreover, relatively high-level exposures can be experienced by outdoor workers, even in the absence of large-scale pollution episodes.

Ambulatory (24 Hour) Blood Pressure Monitoring in Police Officers

“…For this reason in our previous researches we have studied exposure dosage to benzene, toluene and other aromatic hydrocarbons in Municipal Police employees of the city in question. Time weighted average (TWA) exposure to benzene (mean 10.7 and 3.6 µg/m 3 , respectively) and to toluene (mean 40.7 and 13.5 µg/m 3 , respectively) was significantly higher among police officers than among indoor workers 24,26) . Since previous studies have already measured the environmental and biological levels in our working population and it is well known that police officers' exposure dosage is significantly higher than controls, we didn't repeat the exposure dosage study in this work 24,26,27) .…”

“…Time weighted average (TWA) exposure to benzene (mean 10.7 and 3.6 µg/m 3 , respectively) and to toluene (mean 40.7 and 13.5 µg/m 3 , respectively) was significantly higher among police officers than among indoor workers 24,26) . Since previous studies have already measured the environmental and biological levels in our working population and it is well known that police officers' exposure dosage is significantly higher than controls, we didn't repeat the exposure dosage study in this work 24,26,27) . Several studies in the literature have studied the relationship between noise and hypertension and reported that the effects of noise on the cardiovascular system may be caused by autonomic nervous system activation with an increase in catecholamine release [15][16][17][18][19] .…”

“…The class of workers examined in this study were employees of the Municipal Police of a big Italian city, for whom we have already studied, in previous studies, the environmental and biological levels of some urban pollutants [24][25][26][27] . Exposure dosage to benzene was (mean 7 h) 10.7 µg/m 3 for police officers but about three times lower (3.6 µg/m 3 ) in controls 24,26) . Although unleaded petrol had been introduced, a mixed regime existed in Italy at the time of this study (use of leaded and unleaded petrol).…”

The Volume of Vehicular Greenhouse gas Emissions along a Dual Carriage Road in North-Central Nigeria: A Survey Study

“…Greenhouse gases include, among others, water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and halocarbons [10]. The timing, magnitude, and consequences of this temperature increase are not fully understood or agreed on, but it could lead to marked changes in sea level, precipitation, and storm patterns.…”

The Effects of Air Pollution on the Lipid Balance of Traffic Police Personnel

“…Large population groups are affected, for occupational or other reasons, by exposure to often high concentrations of pollutants of a chemical nature originating from the exhaust of motor vehicles, heating plants or emissions from industrial establishments. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] There are many chemical agents present in the air, such as noxious gases (carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone, fluoride, chlorine, aldehydes, aliphatic, aromatic, chlorinated and polycyclic hydro-carbons), particulate materials (mainly dusts of a mineral and carbonaceous type, the latter often with traces of polycyclic hydrocarbons in solid form), and also metals dispersed in the air (lead, chromium, nickel, arsenic, vanadium and others). Some of these chemical agents can cause dyslipidemia (lead, carbon monoxide, unsaturated chlorinated hydrocarbons [occasional contaminants] and organic solvents, such as aliphatic halogenated hydrocarbons).…”