[Life style as a confounding factor in the study of biological effects of the occupational exposure to chemical substances].

The evaluation of health status of workers exposed to a variety of chemicals is usually performed by means of several laboratory indices. Our aim was to assess the influence of some lifestyle characteristics (alcohol intake and cigarettes smoking) on these parameters. 103 subjects occupationally exposed to chemicals and 146 non occupationally exposed subject were studied. A significant increase in gamma-GT, MCV e UDGA was observed among drinkers (> or = 5 g alcohol/day) as compared with non drinkers and among cigarette smokers (> or = 5 cigarettes/day) as compared with non smokers. Statistically cigarette smoking and alcohol intake influenced parameters independently from any occupational exposure to chemicals. Among the explored indices, UDGA only was significantly and positively associated to occupationally exposure to chemicals. Alcohol intake and cigarettes smoking are responsible for a modification of some laboratory parameters in healthy workers. The medical surveillance of workers exposed to chemicals should include a careful evaluation of alcohol intake (when gamma-GT and ADGU are measured) and cigarette smoking (when MCV and ADGU are measured).