Urinary Mercapturic Acids to Assess Exposure to Benzene and Other Volatile Organic Compounds in Coke Oven Workers

Abstract

Coke production was classified as carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Besides polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, coke oven workers may be exposed to benzene and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The aim of this study was to assess the exposure to several VOCs in 49 coke oven workers and 49 individuals living in the same area by determining urinary mercapturic acids. Active tobacco smoking was an exclusion criterion for both groups. Mercapturic acids were investigated by a validated isotopic dilution LC-MS/MS method. Linear models were built to correct for different confounding variables. Urinary levels of N-acetyl-S-phenyl-L-cysteine (SPMA) (metabolite of benzene), N-acetyl-S-(2-hydroxy-1/2-phenylethyl)-L-cysteine (PHEMA) (metabolite of styrene), N-acetyl-S-(2-cyanoethyl)-L-cysteine (CEMA) (metabolite of acrylonitrile), N-acetyl-S-[1-(hydroxymethyl)-2-propen-1-yl)-L-cysteine and N-acetyl-S-(2-hydroxy-3-buten-1-yl)-L-cysteine (MHBMA) (metabolites of 1,3-butadiene) were 2–10 fold higher in workers than in controls (p < 0.05). For SPMA, in particular, median levels were 0.02 and 0.31 µg/g creatinine in workers and controls, respectively. Among workers, coke makers were more exposed to PHEMA and SPMA than foremen and engine operators. The comparison with biological limit values shows that the exposure of workers was within 20% of the limit values for all biomarkers, moreover three subjects exceeded the restrictive occupational limit value recently proposed by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) for SPMA.

Biological Monitoring: Evidence for Reductions in Occupational Exposure and Risk

“…In the past 2 years, no results above 8 μmol/mol creatinine have been recorded. This is comparable with recent reported levels across a variety of workplaces including coke oven workers (Frigerio et al, 2020), gas station attendants (ECHA, 2018;Kraus et al, 2019) firefighters (Rosting and Olsen, 2020) and an oil spill field trial at sea (Gjesteland et al, 2018).…”

“…A further 5% of samples came from the waste and recycling sector. Although the oil and gas sector made up a third of the samples overall, samples were only received in significant numbers (>100/year) since 2010; this may reflect the growing industry interest in benzene at this time with bodies such as Concawe and the Energy Institute funding research into benzene exposures and toxicology ( Sams and Jones, 2015 ; Cox et al, 2017 ; Frigerio et al, 2020 ) The P90 in the oil and gas sector has remained consistent over the last 10 years (∼1.5 μmol/mol creatinine between 2009 and 2019); about 1.6% of results exceeded the ACGIH BEI (12 μmol/mol creatinine). For coke oven workers, most samples were received between 2007 and 2014, since then there has been a steady decline in samples due to loss of UK industry in this sector; during this time, the P90 fell from 6.8 to 2.6 μmol/mol creatinine.…”

Pembentukan Mikronukleus di Mukosa Bukal akibat Paparan Senyawa Kimia pada Berbagai Macam Pekerjaan

“…Selain itu, IARC juga menglasifikasi debu material (silika, kayu, logam) dan obat antineoplastik sebagai karsinogen karena memiliki kandungan senyawasenyawa karsinogenik yang juga dapat memicu terbentuknya mikronukleus di mukosa bukal. 1,12,18,28,[35][36][37][38][39][40][41] Berdasarkan hasil kajian penelitian ini didapatkan bahwa mikronukleus pada rongga mulut yang diakibatkan oleh senyawa kimia kelompok PAH menunjukkan jumlah yang tinggi dan banyak ditemukan pada berbagai macam pekerjaan. Senyawa PAH, seperti benzo[a]pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, indeno [1,2,3-c,d]pyrene, dan dibenz[a,h]anthracene, banyak ditemukan di udara bebas.…”

“…12,[42][43][44][45] Senyawa benzene, toluene, xylene merupakan senyawa organik yang mudah menguap dan juga kontaminan udara terbesar selain PAH. 16,31,30,32,39 Senyawasenyawa tersebut, terutama benzene, akan dioksidasi di dalam hati oleh enzim CYP450 menjadi benzene oxide yang dapat tersusun ulang secara nonenzimatik menjadi fenol, diubah menjadi catechol, atau menjadi senyawa benzene diol epoxide yang bersifat karsinogenik. Fenol dan catechol di dalam tubuh akan mudah mengalami siklus redoks yang menghasilkan senyawa semikuinon yang karsinogenik dan senyawa ROS yang dapat memicu kerusakan oksidatif.…”

A review of the status of organic pollutants in geothermal waters

“…The lipophilic nature of these organic pollutants makes them accumulate quickly up in the food chains, leading to disastrous effects to human beings and wildlife since they can quickly bind to the cellular cell walls, lipids, and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). This affects the normal biological functions of the body and, in some cases, can lead to mutagenesis, the growth of tumors, and even cancer (Varjani et al, 2017) There have been concerns about occupational diseases that workers are exposed to, especially at coke production units (Frigerio et al, 2020), geothermal power sources, fuel filling stations, and oil transport footwear industries. Glue is an adhesive in the footwear industry.…”