Indoor exposure to particulate matter and volatile organic compounds in dwellings and workplaces and respiratory health in French farmers

Abstract

IntroductionFew investigations have related objective assessments of indoor air pollutants to respiratory health in farmers, in spite of the many rural environmental hazards to which they are exposed. Chemical air pollution has been particularly neglected.ObjectiveWe investigated the relationships of indoor exposure to particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to respiratory health in farmers.MethodsNineteen VOCs (5 families) and PM (from ultrafine to total suspended particles (TSP)) were objectively assessed in dwellings and workplaces in 109 French farmers during a week. To take into account multiple exposures, scores of exposure were computed for total VOCs and VOCs families. Individuals filled a standardized questionnaire and underwent spirometry with bronchodilation test.ResultsOn average, VOCs concentrations were higher in dwellings than in workplaces. The reverse was observed for PM. When considering the mean concentrations of air pollutants for the whole farm (dwellings + workplaces), asthma (9.3%) was positively associated with elevated exposure to benzene (adjusted odds-ratio (ORa) = 6.64, 95%CI: 1.56–28.27), trichloroethylene (4.80, 1.00–23.30) and halogenated hydrocarbons score (2.9, 95% 1.3–6.8). Early airway obstruction (FEF25–75 < 80%, with normal FEV1 and FVC and FEV/FVC ≥ 70%) (29.8%) was related to elevated exposure to 2-butoxyetylacetate (11.49, 1.55–85.37) and glycol ethers score (2.0; 1.0–4.1) in the whole farm and to PM2.5 (ORa = 5.26, 95% CI: 1.09–25.28) in the granary/stable. The risk of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (FEV/FVC < 70%) (COPD) (4.26%) was found to be larger with elevated exposure to aldehydes (OR = 3.95, 1.09–14.26).ConclusionIndoor chemical air pollution is detrimental to farmers’ respiratory health. More epidemiological investigations with detailed exposure assessments and clinical measures of respiratory effects are needed in rural settings to corroborate these findings.

Urinary Volatile Organic Compound Metabolites Are Associated with Reduced Lung Function in U.S. Children and Adolescents

“…Urinary VOC metabolites have a half-life in the order of days, which is longer than that of blood VOCs which is only of hours. Urinary VOC metabolites also indicate VOC exposure from indoor and outdoor sources and are a better indicator of internal dose than environmental indoor VOCs measurement [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. Exposure measures were performed by laboratories of the National Center of Environmental Health (NCEH) of the CDC with rigorous methods and several covariates were adjusted for in our analysis to minimize residual confounding.…”

Greenspace Exposure with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Systematic Review

“…Vegetation types and the plant composition of green spaces vary across the globe, resulting in different types and amounts of VOCs. Some plant VOCs decrease lung function and increase the risk of COPD [87,88]. Second, higher greenspace exposure increased the pollen concentration.…”

Distribution and temporal variation of total volatile organic compounds concentrations associated with health risk in Punjab, India

“…Benzene is a known carcinogen categorized under Group-1 as per IARC, responsible for causing leukemia, multiple myeloma, and lung, liver, and biliary tract cancer. Being genotoxic in nature affects the bone marrow cells, causing chromosomal abnormality, while the association with aplastic anemia and respiratory effects, including asthma, are also observed (Maesano et al, 2019;Dantas et al, 2022). Toluene exposure causes dizziness, nausea, CNS depression, paresthesia, cerebellar ataxia or incoordination, renal toxicity, neurological disorders, vision disruption, and color vision loss, while maternal-effect includes premature delivery, delay in post-natal development, ); while some of the studies have been reported in India measuring the impact of covid-19 lockdown on air quality but for a very short term period (Chauhan and Singh, 2020; Jain and Sharma, 2020; Kotnala et al, 2020 Kumar et al, 2020).…”