Neghab Masoud, Mirzaei Ahmad, Jalilian Hamed, Jahangiri Mehdi, Zahedi Jafar, Yousefinejad Saeed
Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Research Center for Health Sciences, Institute of Health, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Int J Occup Environ Med. 2019 Apr;10(2):80-88. doi: 10.15171/ijoem.2019.1527.
Many workers, particularly those working in manufacture of fertilizers, explosives, rubber, pesticides, textiles, and employees of petrochemical industries are exposed to ammonia in their workplaces. Toxic responses of hematopoietic system and kidney following occupational exposure to this chemical have not been thoroughly investigated.
To determine the relationship between long-term occupational exposure to low levels of ammonia and hematological parameters and kidney function.
In this cross-sectional study, 119 randomly selected, male petrochemical workers and 131 office employees (comparison group) were examined. Urine and blood samples were taken from all participants for urinalysis, complete blood count (CBC), serum calcium level, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and plasma creatinine. Personal, environmental, and peak ammonia exposure were also measured.
The median personal, environmental, and peak occupational exposure to ammonia were 0.23, 0.16, and 65.50 mg/m, respectively, among the exposed group. No significant difference was observed between the exposed and unexposed participants in terms of hematological parameters and urinalysis. Conversely, calcium and BUN, while within the normal range, were significantly higher in the exposed than in the comparison group.
Occupational exposure to low atmospheric concentrations of ammonia was associated with subtle, sub-clinical, pre-pathologic changes in kidney function. Possible longterm consequences and ramifications of these effects require further investigation.
许多工人，尤其是从事化肥、炸药、橡胶、农药、纺织品制造的工人以及石化行业的员工，在工作场所会接触到氨。职业性接触这种化学物质后造血系统和肾脏的毒性反应尚未得到充分研究。
确定长期职业性低水平接触氨与血液学参数和肾功能之间的关系。
在这项横断面研究中，对119名随机挑选的男性石化工人和131名办公室职员（对照组）进行了检查。采集了所有参与者的尿液和血液样本，用于尿液分析、全血细胞计数（CBC）、血清钙水平、血尿素氮（BUN）和血浆肌酐检测。还测量了个人、环境和氨的峰值暴露量。
暴露组中个人、环境和职业性氨的峰值暴露中位数分别为0.23、0.16和65.50 mg/m³。在血液学参数和尿液分析方面，暴露组和未暴露组参与者之间未观察到显著差异。相反，钙和BUN虽然在正常范围内，但暴露组明显高于对照组。
职业性低浓度接触氨与肾功能的细微、亚临床、病理前变化有关。这些影响可能产生的长期后果和影响需要进一步研究。
