School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China.
Chemosphere. 2022 Sep;303(Pt 3):135251. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135251. Epub 2022 Jun 7.
Waste incineration is one of the most common emission sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), causing potential occupational exposure in waste incineration workers. However, relative investigations among waste incineration plant workers are still very limited, particularly in China. Therefore, we collected urine specimens from 77 workers in a waste incineration plant as the exposed group, and 101 residents as the control group in Shenzhen, China. Nine mono-hydroxylated PAH metabolites (OH-PAHs) and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) were measured, and their internal relationships were explored. The urinary levels of most OH-PAHs and 8-OHdG in the exposed group exhibited high levels versus another group (p < 0.05). We found negative associations between OH-PAHs and 8-OHdG in the control group (p < 0.05), while most of OH-PAHs were not associated with 8-OHdG in the exposed group, which indicated that the exposure to waste incineration could enlarge the level of individual oxidative stress damage. Nevertheless, PAHs were less likely to trigger obvious health risks in exposed workers through estimation of human intake and exposure risks. This study provides a reference for occupational PAH exposure and strengthen the need of health monitoring among incineration workers.
垃圾焚烧是多环芳烃（PAHs）的最常见排放源之一，会导致垃圾焚烧工人潜在的职业暴露。然而，针对垃圾焚烧厂工人的相关调查仍然非常有限，特别是在中国。因此，我们收集了中国深圳一家垃圾焚烧厂的 77 名工人（暴露组）和 101 名居民（对照组）的尿液样本。测量了 9 种单羟基多环芳烃代谢物（OH-PAHs）和 8-羟基-2'-脱氧鸟苷（8-OHdG），并探讨了它们之间的内在关系。暴露组中大多数 OH-PAHs 和 8-OHdG 的尿液水平明显高于另一组（p<0.05）。我们发现对照组中 OH-PAHs 和 8-OHdG 之间存在负相关关系（p<0.05），而暴露组中大多数 OH-PAHs 与 8-OHdG 没有关联，这表明接触垃圾焚烧会增加个体氧化应激损伤的水平。然而，通过评估人体摄入和暴露风险，PAHs 不太可能对暴露工人造成明显的健康风险。本研究为职业性 PAH 暴露提供了参考，并加强了对焚烧工人健康监测的需求。
