Personal Exposure of Traffic Police Officers to Particulate Matter, Carbon Monoxide, and Benzene in the City of Milan, Italy

Abstract

The aim of this work was to quantify the personal exposure of traffic police officers to particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes. The contributions of some behavioral, occupational, and meteorological determinants of exposure also were evaluated. Personal exposure to airborne contaminants was measured on 130 selected volunteers in four seasonal sampling sessions. CO was measured with high sampling frequency. A time-activity diary was completed by traffic police officers during their work shift. Mean (median) personal exposure levels of carbon monoxide, respirable particles (PM(resp)), and benzene were 3.51 (3.22) mg/m(3), 128 (115) microg/m(3) and 11.5 (9.6) microg/m(3), respectively. The highest ambient mean levels of PM(resp), CO, and benzene were found during cold seasons. Measurements taken where traffic is directed, schools are guarded, and other outdoor tasks are performed showed the highest median CO concentrations. As expected, wind decreased exposure to CO and benzene. Exposure was not significantly affected by active tobacco smoke. A key finding was that airborne concentrations determined by fixed measurement stations reported in other studies greatly underestimated traffic officers' exposure to airborne contaminants. The proximity to an emission source determined by the occupational activity was the factor that most affected exposure. For this reason, fixed stations are poor predictors of roadside exposures to airborne pollutants.

Global review of studies on traffic police with special focus on environmental health effects

“…The exposure of traffic police officers to particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and benzene has been assessed. The key finding was that airborne concentrations determined by a fixed measurement reported in other studies greatly underestimated the exposure of traffic officers to airborne contaminants [87]. pollution and its carcinogenic effect on the exposed individuals.…”

Follicle-stimulating hormone levels in female workers exposed to urban pollutants

“…Studies in literature show that traffic policewomen are daily exposed to chemical urban pollutants (Tomei et al 2004;Maffei et al 2005;Cattaneo et al 2010) and in previous research we have observed effects of exposure to urban stressor on plasma follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in a group of male traffic policemen (Tomei et al 2009). The gonadotropin FSH is synthesized and secreted by gonadotrope cells of the anterior pituitary gland.…”

Association Between Individual PM2.5 Exposure and DNA Damage in Traffic Policemen

“…The flow rate of the sampling pumps was controlled and calibrated immediately before and after sampling using a certified rotameter. 10 A sampling plastic tube was connected with an inlet port and placed at a height that was at the same height of breathing, so that it would represent the individual's actual exposure. The duration was from 8:00 AM of 1 day to 8:00 AM of the next day.…”