University of Rome Sapienza, Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Rome, Italy.
Inhal Toxicol. 2012 Aug;24(9):589-98. doi: 10.3109/08958378.2012.703251.
Arsenic is a ubiquitous element present in urban air as a pollutant, and it may interfere with thyroid hormones.
To evaluate the association between the personal exposure to arsenic and levels of TSH, fT4, fT3, and Tg in urban and rural workers.
Total urinary arsenic and thyroid markers were obtained from 108 non-smoking traffic policemen and 77 subjects working as roadmen in a rural area. Fifty subjects were monitored to evaluate airborne exposure to arsenic.
The mean value of exposure to arsenic was 2.9 µg/m(3) in traffic policemen, while the mean value was less than 0.1 µg/m(3) in roadmen. The mean values of urinary arsenic (10.4 μg/g creatinine vs. 5.2 μg/g creatinine; p = 0.000), TSH (1.6 µlU/ml vs. 1.3 µlU/ml; p = 0.006), fT3 (3.5 pg/ml vs. 3.7 pg/ml; p = 0.000), fT4 (1.2 ng/dl vs. 1.3 ng/dl; p = 0.000) and Tg (42.8 ng/ml vs. 36.1 ng/ml; p = 0.04) were significantly different between traffic policemen and roadmen. In traffic policemen, urinary arsenic and arsenic in the air were correlated to the airborne arsenic and TSH values, respectively. Urinary arsenic was correlated to TSH, Tg, fT3, and fT4 values. The multiple linear regression models showed the following associations: i) among urinary arsenic, arsenic in the air and job title; ii) among TSH, fT3, Tg and urinary arsenic; and iii) between fT4 and both urinary arsenic and alcohol intake.
These results provide information about the relationship between exposure to arsenic and thyroid markers and may be useful for other categories of outdoor workers who are similarly exposed.
砷是一种普遍存在于城市空气中的污染物，它可能会干扰甲状腺激素。
评估城市和农村工人个体砷暴露与 TSH、fT4、fT3 和 Tg 水平之间的关系。
从 108 名不吸烟的交通警察和 77 名在农村地区从事道路工作的人员中获得了总尿砷和甲状腺标志物。对 50 名监测对象进行了评估，以评估砷的空气暴露情况。
交通警察的砷暴露平均值为 2.9µg/m3，而道路工人的平均值低于 0.1µg/m3。尿砷（10.4µg/g 肌酐比 5.2µg/g 肌酐；p=0.000）、TSH（1.6µlU/ml 比 1.3µlU/ml；p=0.006）、fT3（3.5pg/ml 比 3.7pg/ml；p=0.000）、fT4（1.2ng/dl 比 1.3ng/dl；p=0.000）和 Tg（42.8ng/ml 比 36.1ng/ml；p=0.04）的平均值在交通警察和道路工人之间有显著差异。在交通警察中，尿砷和空气中的砷分别与空气砷和 TSH 值相关。尿砷与 TSH、Tg、fT3 和 fT4 值相关。多元线性回归模型显示了以下关联：i）尿砷、空气中的砷和职业之间；ii）TSH、fT3、Tg 和尿砷之间；iii）fT4 与尿砷和饮酒之间。
这些结果提供了关于砷暴露与甲状腺标志物之间关系的信息，对于其他同样暴露于砷的户外工作者可能有用。
