Wu Chin-Ching, Chen Yi-Chun
Department of Public Health, China Medical University, 91 Hsueh-Shih Road, Taichung 404, Taiwan.
Department of Health Management, College of Medicine, I-Shou University, 8 Yida Road, Yanchao District, Kaohsiung 824, Taiwan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017 Jun 26;14(7):689. doi: 10.3390/ijerph14070689.
This study investigated antimony exposure among employees in industries in Taiwan and evaluated whether their immunologic markers were associated with antimony exposure. We recruited 91 male workers and 42 male office administrators from 2 glass manufacturing plants, 1 antimony trioxide manufacturing plants, and 2 engineering plastic manufacturing plants. Air samples were collected at worksites and administrative offices, and each participant provided specimens of urine, blood, and hair to assay antimony levels. We also determined white blood cells, lymphocyte, and monocyte, IgA, IgE, and IgG in blood specimens. The mean antimony concentration in the air measured at worksites was much higher in the antimony trioxide plant (2.51 ± 0.57 mg/m³) than in plastic plants (0.21 ± 0.06 mg/m³) and glass plants (0.14 ± 0.01 mg/m³). Antimony levels in blood, urine, and hair measured for participants were correlated with worksites and were higher in workers than in administrators. The mean serum IgG, IgA, and IgE levels were lower in workers than in administrators ( < 0.001). Serum IgA and IgE levels in participants were negatively associated with antimony levels in air samples of workplaces, and in blood, urine, and hairs of participants. Serum IgG and IgE of all participants were also negatively associated with antimony levels in their hairs. In conclusion, the antimony exposure is greater for workers employed in the five industrial plants than for administrators. This study suggests serum IgG, IgA, and IgE levels are negatively associated with antimony exposure.
本研究调查了台湾各行业员工的锑暴露情况，并评估了他们的免疫标志物是否与锑暴露有关。我们从2家玻璃制造厂、1家三氧化二锑制造厂和2家工程塑料制造厂招募了91名男性工人和42名男性办公室管理人员。在工作场所和行政办公室采集空气样本，每位参与者提供尿液、血液和头发样本以检测锑含量。我们还测定了血液样本中的白细胞、淋巴细胞、单核细胞、IgA、IgE和IgG。在工作场所测得的空气中锑的平均浓度，三氧化二锑厂（2.51±0.57毫克/立方米）远高于塑料厂（0.21±0.06毫克/立方米）和玻璃厂（0.14±0.01毫克/立方米）。参与者血液、尿液和头发中的锑含量与工作场所有关，工人中的锑含量高于管理人员。工人的血清IgG、IgA和IgE平均水平低于管理人员（<0.001）。参与者的血清IgA和IgE水平与工作场所空气样本以及参与者血液、尿液和头发中的锑含量呈负相关。所有参与者的血清IgG和IgE也与他们头发中的锑含量呈负相关。总之，这五家工厂的工人比管理人员的锑暴露量更大。本研究表明血清IgG、IgA和IgE水平与锑暴露呈负相关。
