Pomata Donatella, Di Filippo Patrizia, Riccardi Carmela, Castellani Federica, Simonetti Giulia, Sonego Elisa, Buiarelli Francesca
Italian Workers' Compensation Authority via Roberto Ferruzzi 38, 00143 Rome, Italy.
Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Apr 20;18(8):4352. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18084352.
In the last years, many studies have focused on risk assessment of exposure of workers to airborne particulate matter (PM). Several studies indicate a strong correlation between PM and adverse health outcomes, as a function of particle size. In the last years, the study of atmospheric particulate matter has focused more on particles less than 10 μm or 2.5 μm in diameter; however, recent studies identify in particles less than 0.1 μm the main responsibility for negative cardiovascular effects. The present paper deals with the determination of 66 organic compounds belonging to six different classes of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the ultrafine, fine and coarse fractions of PM (PM < 0.1 µm; 0.1 < PM < 2.5 µm and 2.5 < PM < 10 µm) collected in three outdoor workplaces and in an urban outdoor area. Data obtained were analyzed with principal component analysis (PCA), in order to underline possible correlation between sites and classes of pollutants and characteristic emission sources. Emission source studies are, in fact, a valuable tool for both identifying the type of emission source and estimating the strength of each contamination source, as useful indicator of environment healthiness. Moreover, both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks were determined in order to estimate human health risk associated to study sites. Risk analysis was carried out evaluating the contribution of pollutant distribution in PM size fractions for all the sites. The results highlighted significant differences between the sites and specific sources of pollutants related to work activities were identified. In all the sites and for all the size fractions of PM both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk values were below acceptable and safe levels of risks recommended by the regulatory agencies.
在过去几年中，许多研究都聚焦于工人接触空气中颗粒物（PM）的风险评估。多项研究表明，根据粒径不同，PM与不良健康后果之间存在很强的相关性。在过去几年里，大气颗粒物的研究更多地集中在直径小于10μm或2.5μm的颗粒上；然而，最近的研究发现直径小于0.1μm的颗粒是造成负面心血管影响的主要因素。本文研究了在三个室外工作场所和一个城市室外区域收集的PM（PM<0.1μm；0.1<PM<2.5μm和2.5<PM<10μm）的超细、细和粗颗粒部分中属于六种不同类别的持久性有机污染物（POPs）的66种有机化合物的测定。对获得的数据进行主成分分析（PCA），以强调地点与污染物类别和特征排放源之间可能存在的相关性。事实上，排放源研究是识别排放源类型和估算每个污染源强度的宝贵工具，是环境健康状况的有用指标。此外，还确定了致癌风险和非致癌风险，以估计与研究地点相关的人类健康风险。通过评估所有地点PM粒径分数中污染物分布的贡献来进行风险分析。结果突出了各地点之间的显著差异，并确定了与工作活动相关的特定污染物来源。在所有地点以及PM的所有粒径分数中，致癌和非致癌风险值均低于监管机构建议的可接受和安全风险水平。
