OBJECTIVE: Our study aimed to evaluate the extent of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure in coke oven workers from Eastern Slovakia by cytogenetic analysis of human peripheral lymphocytes. METHODS: A total of 81 peripheral blood samples were collected from PAH-exposed workers (mean age 45.84 ± 9.73 years) and 30 samples constituted the control group (41.93 ± 15.39 years). The samples were processed using routine cytological analysis. Conventional cytogenetic analysis of human peripheral lymphocytes has been used to evaluate the effects of PAHs. RESULTS: Comparison of the aberrant cells in the total exposed with the controls showed a significant difference (p < 0.05). A high level of significance (p < 0.001) was observed when comparing the gaps between the exposed group and the control group. There was a significant difference (p < 0.01) in aberrant cells and chromatid breaks (p < 0.05) in the GR1 working subgroup compared with the control group. The results of the correlation analysis did not show a significant relationship between the length of occupational exposure and the frequency of aberrant cells (r = 0.071, p = 0.529). Similarly, no association was observed between smoking among coke plant workers and the frequency of aberrant cells (r = 0.117, p = 0.538). CONCLUSION: Cytogenetic analysis showed an increased frequency of chromosomal aberrations in coke oven workers in Eastern Slovakia.
- MeSH
- Cytogenetic Analysis MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Coke * analysis MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Lymphocytes chemistry MeSH
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons * toxicity analysis MeSH
- Occupational Exposure * adverse effects analysis MeSH
- Pyrenes analysis MeSH
- Check Tag
- Adult MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Slovakia MeSH
BACKGROUND: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the products of incomplete combustion or pyrolysis of various organic materials. Their ubiquity in the environment leads to measurable levels of exposure. However, the exposure varies strongly between different regions in Europe. Some PAHs with four or more rings are suspected to be human carcinogens. Therefore, the occupational and/or environmental exposure to PAHs may cause a significant health risk. The aim of investigation is to evaluate current levels of PAH exposure in defined groups of workers. METHODS: The industrial sites selected in this survey involved PAHs originating from coal tar pitch, carbon black, bitumen and rubber fumes. Based on the historical data, the sites were expected to exhibit quantifiable levels of exposure to PAHs. The total study population consisted of 139 persons: 108 (85 male and 23 female) workers were occupationally exposed in aluminum production, the production of graphite electrodes, road construction, or the rubber forming industry and 28 control individuals in two groups. RESULTS: The total 8 h time-weighted average (TWA) levels (sum of 16 components according to the EPA list) ranged from 0.2 to 773.7 μg.m(-3) (mean 26.7 μg.m(-3); 95th percentile 123.3 μg.m(-3)). The highest concentrations, as expected, were found in the aluminum production plant and production of graphite electrodes. The lowest concentrations were found in personal air samples of road construction workers. The concentrations of 1-hydroxypyrene as a pyrene metabolite in the urine of the exposed group of workers were found in levels between 0.11-1.26 μmol.mol(-1) creatinine before the exposure, and in the levels between 0.12-4.25 μmol.mol(-1) creatinine after the exposure 1-OHP concentrations in post-shift urine samples were highly correlated with the total airborne PAHs concentrations and pyrene concentrations in air. The correlation coefficients (r) between 1-OHP concentration and pyrene or total PAHs in air were 0.710 and 0.752 (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: This statistical analysis confirmed the effect of the occupational exposure to PAHs and pyrene on the body burden of workers. However, a modifying effect of sex, smoking habits, dietary intake, genetically modified metabolism, and the use of medication on the toxikokinetics of pyrene was not determined as significant.
- MeSH
- Biomarkers analysis MeSH
- Air Pollutants, Occupational analysis MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring methods MeSH
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons analysis MeSH
- Occupational Exposure analysis MeSH
- Industry MeSH
- Pyrenes analysis MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Slovakia MeSH
Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) is a serious hazard for human health. 1-Hydroxypyrene (1-HOP), a major metabolite of pyrene, is used as a biomarker for the assessment of an exposure to PAH. The article deals with the validation of the HPLC determination of 1-HOP with fluorescence detection. 1-HOP was isolated from urine by solid phase extraction. The detection and quantification limits are 0.08 and 0.26 g l–1, respectively. RSD of precision and accuracy are lower than 9.8 %. The recoveries are 78.8–93.5 %. This method can be used to determine and monitor the urinary 1-HOP in workers exposed to PAH.
- MeSH
- Biomarkers * analysis chemistry MeSH
- Chemistry Techniques, Analytical MeSH
- Microscopy, Fluorescence methods utilization MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Biomarkers, Tumor analysis chemistry MeSH
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons * analysis metabolism urine adverse effects MeSH
- Pyrenes * analysis urine MeSH
- Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid * methods utilization MeSH
- Environmental Exposure analysis MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
Soil organic matter is used to extrapolate the toxicity and bioavailability of organic pollutants between different soils. However, it has been shown that other factors such as microbial activity are crucial. The aim of this study was to investigate if sterilization can reduce differences in the fate and bioavailability of organic pollutants between different soils. Three natural soils with increasing total organic carbon (TOC) content were collected and three artificial soils were prepared to obtain similar TOCs. Soils were sterilized and spiked with (14)C-pyrene and (14)C-lindane. Total (14)C radioactivity, HPCD extractability, and bioaccumulation in Eisenia fetida were measured over 56 days. When compared to non-sterile soils, differences between the natural and artificial soils and the influence of soil-contaminant contact time were generally reduced in the sterile soils (especially with middle TOC). The results indicate the possibility of using sterile soils as "the worst case scenario" in soil ecotoxicity studies.
- MeSH
- Hexachlorocyclohexane analysis metabolism MeSH
- Soil Pollutants analysis metabolism MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring MeSH
- Oligochaeta metabolism MeSH
- Soil MeSH
- Pyrenes analysis metabolism MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
BACKGROUND: Goeckerman therapy (GT) for psoriasis is based on cutaneous application of crude coal tar [polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)] and exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR). PAH and UVR are mutagenic, carcinogenic and immunotoxic agents that promote apoptosis. METHODS: We evaluated dermal absorption of PAH as well as the genotoxic and apoptotic effects of GT in 20 patients with psoriasis, by determining numbers of chromosomal abnormalities in peripheral lymphocytes, and levels of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), p53 protein and soluble FasL (sFasL) in urine and/or blood, before and after GT. Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score was used to evaluate clinical efficacy of GT. RESULTS: Compared with pre-treatment levels, there was a significant increase in urine 1-OHP, indicating a high degree of dermal absorption of PAH (P < 0.01). We also found a significant increase in the number of chromosomal abnormalities in peripheral blood lymphocytes (P < 0.001), suggesting that GT is genotoxic; significantly increased p53 protein in plasma (P < 0.05), an indicator of cell response to DNA damage; and significantly increased sFasL in serum (P < 0.01), an indicator of apoptosis. The PASI score was significantly decreased after GT (P < 0.001), confirming clinical benefit of this treatment. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate high dermal absorption of PAH during GT and provide evidence that GT promotes genotoxicity and apoptosis.
- MeSH
- Apoptosis MeSH
- Chromosome Aberrations chemically induced MeSH
- Coal Tar adverse effects metabolism therapeutic use MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Skin Absorption MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Fas Ligand Protein blood MeSH
- Lymphocytes pathology MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Young Adult MeSH
- Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 blood MeSH
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons adverse effects metabolism therapeutic use MeSH
- DNA Damage MeSH
- Psoriasis drug therapy radiotherapy therapy MeSH
- Pyrenes analysis MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Ultraviolet Therapy adverse effects MeSH
- Check Tag
- Adult MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Young Adult MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
Optimum conditions for the determination of carcinogenic 1-nitropyrene (NP) and 1-aminopyrene (AP) by differential pulse voltammetry with a boron-doped diamond film electrode were found ? aqueous-methanolic (3:7) Britton-Robinson buffer (pH 3), scan rate 20 mV s–1, pulse duration 100 ms, pulse amplitude ?50 mV (NP) and 50 mV (AP). The regeneration in NP determination was carried out before analysis by switching fifty-times between the potentials 800 mV and –500 mV every 0.3 s. In determination of AP, no regeneration was needed. The limits of quantification were 8·10–7 and 2·10–7 mol dm?3 for NP and AP, respectively.
A method for the determination of 1-hydroxypyrene in urine and hexachlorbenzene in water applying the regression triplet in the calibration procedure of chromatographic data has been applied. The detection limit and quantification limit are currently calculated on the basis of the standard deviation of replicate analyses at a single concentration. However, since the standard deviation depends on concentration, these single-concentration techniques result in limits that are directly dependent on spiking concentration. A more rigorous approach requires first careful attention to the three components of the regression triplet (data, model, method), examining (1) the data quality of the proposed model, (2) the model quality and (3) the least-squares method to be used for fulfilment of all least-squares assumptions. For high-performance liquid chromatography determination of 1-hydroxypyrene in urine and gas chromatography analysis of hexachlorbenzene in water, this paper describes the effects of deviations from five basic assumptions The paper considers the correction of deviations: identifying influential points, namely, outliers, the calibration task depends on the regression model used, and the least-squares method is based on the assumptions of the normality of the errors, homoscedasticity and the independence of errors. Results show that the approach developed provides improved estimates of analytical limits and that the single-concentration approaches currently in wide use are seriously flawed.
- MeSH
- Water Pollutants, Chemical MeSH
- Chromatography, Gas methods instrumentation MeSH
- Electrochemistry MeSH
- Electrons MeSH
- Financing, Organized MeSH
- Hexachlorocyclohexane analysis MeSH
- Data Interpretation, Statistical MeSH
- Calibration MeSH
- Urine chemistry MeSH
- Pyrenes analysis MeSH
- Regression Analysis MeSH
- Reproducibility of Results MeSH
- Sensitivity and Specificity MeSH
- Water chemistry MeSH
- Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid methods instrumentation MeSH
- MeSH
- Biomarkers analysis MeSH
- Water Pollutants, Chemical analysis MeSH
- Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated analysis MeSH
- Cyprinidae MeSH
- Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1 metabolism MeSH
- Endocrine Disruptors MeSH
- Phenols analysis MeSH
- Financing, Organized MeSH
- Liver enzymology MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring methods MeSH
- Pyrenes analysis MeSH
- Rivers MeSH
- Mercury analysis MeSH
- Muscles chemistry MeSH
- Testosterone analogs & derivatives blood MeSH
- Vitellogenins blood MeSH
- Bile MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
