Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany.
Arch Toxicol. 2011 Jun;85 Suppl 1:S81-7. doi: 10.1007/s00204-011-0685-2. Epub 2011 Mar 1.
Emission levels of vapours and aerosols of bitumen are different when processing rolled asphalt compared to mastic asphalt, with working temperatures up to 180 and 250°C, respectively. During the Human Bitumen Study, we examined six workers handling rolled asphalt and mastic asphalt in two consecutive weeks at the same construction site in a tunnel. In addition to the determination of exposure to bitumen and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) during shift, we examined urinary PAH metabolites, irritative and genotoxic effects before and after shift. Median personal shift concentration of vapours and aerosols of bitumen was 1.8 (range 0.9-2.4) mg/m(3) during the application of rolled asphalt and 7.9 (range 4.9-11.9) mg/m(3) when mastic asphalt was applied. Area measurement of vapours and aerosols of bitumen revealed higher concentrations than the personal measurements for mastic asphalt (mastic asphalt: 34.9 mg/m(3); rolled asphalt: 1.8 mg/m(3)). Processing mastic asphalt was associated also with higher PAH concentrations. Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene and the sum of 1-, 2+ 9-, 3- and 4-hydroxyphenanthrene increased slightly during shift without clear difference between mastic and rolled asphalt application. However, the post-shift urinary PAH-metabolite concentrations did not reflect the different PAH exposure during mastic and rolled asphalt application. Individual workers could be identified by their spirometry results indicating that these data reflect more chronic than acute effects. In most cases, an increase of 8-oxodGuo adducts was observed during shift that was independent of the asphalt application. 8-oxodGuo and (+)-anti-BPDE-DNA adducts were higher than in exposed workers of the Human Bitumen Study independent of the asphalt application. The DNA-strand breaks were considerably higher pre-shift and decreased during shift. In this study, mastic asphalt application led to significantly higher exposure to vapours and aerosols of bitumen, as well as to airborne PAH, compared to rolled asphalt application. Nevertheless, no differences in the excretion of urinary PAH metabolites, lung function impairment and genotoxic markers were detected. However, higher levels of genotoxicity markers on both examination days compared with the results of the Human Bitumen Study may indicate a possible influence of the specific tunnel setting.
当处理轧制沥青与玛蹄脂沥青时，沥青蒸气和气溶胶的排放水平不同，工作温度分别高达 180 和 250°C。在人类沥青研究中，我们在同一个隧道建筑工地连续两周检查了处理轧制沥青和玛蹄脂沥青的六名工人。除了在轮班期间测定接触沥青和多环芳烃 (PAH) 之外，我们还在轮班前和轮班后检查了尿中 PAH 代谢物、刺激性和遗传毒性效应。在应用轧制沥青时，个人轮班浓度的沥青蒸气和气溶胶中位数为 1.8（范围 0.9-2.4）mg/m3，而在应用玛蹄脂沥青时为 7.9（范围 4.9-11.9）mg/m3。沥青蒸气和气溶胶的区域测量显示，玛蹄脂沥青的浓度高于个人测量值（玛蹄脂沥青：34.9mg/m3；轧制沥青：1.8mg/m3）。处理玛蹄脂沥青还与更高的 PAH 浓度有关。尿中 1-羟苊和 1-、2+9-、3-和 4-羟基菲的总和在轮班期间略有增加，而玛蹄脂和轧制沥青应用之间没有明显差异。然而，轮班后尿中 PAH 代谢物浓度并不能反映玛蹄脂和轧制沥青应用期间不同的 PAH 暴露。通过肺活量测定结果可以识别个别工人，这表明这些数据反映的是更慢性而不是急性影响。在大多数情况下，在轮班期间观察到 8-氧鸟嘌呤加合物的增加，这与沥青的应用无关。8-氧鸟嘌呤和 (+)-反式-BPDE-DNA 加合物高于沥青暴露工人的人类沥青研究。DNA 链断裂在轮班前较高，并在轮班期间减少。在这项研究中，与轧制沥青应用相比，玛蹄脂沥青的应用导致沥青蒸气和气溶胶以及空气中 PAH 的暴露明显增加。然而，尿中 PAH 代谢物的排泄、肺功能损害和遗传毒性标志物没有差异。然而，与人类沥青研究的结果相比，在这两天的检查中更高的遗传毒性标志物水平可能表明特定隧道环境的可能影响。
