OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS: INFLUENCE OF FOREST FIRES

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Background concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons metabolites in Portuguese firemen

Publication . Oliveira, Mónica; Slezakova, Klara; Fernandes, Adília; Vaz, Josiana A.; Delerue-Matos, Cristina; Pereira, Maria do Carmo; Morais, Simone

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants produced by the incomplete combustion of organic materials. PAHs may pose risks to human health as many of the individual compounds are cytotoxic and mutagenic to both lower and higher organisms, being some of them regarded as carcinogenic. Pyrene is by far the most characterized PAH in all sample matrices, and is classified as PAH marker of exposure while benzo(a)pyrene is considered the biomarker of carcinogenic exposure to PAHs. Among the 16 PAHs established by US EPA as priority pollutants, naphthalene, acenaphthene, fluorene, and phenanthrene are also found in almost all the matrices. Workers from industrial settings where airborne PAH levels are high such as coke works and the primary aluminium industry, show excess rates of cancers. Firemen are also exposed to high concentrations of PAHs during firefighting; however their biomonitoring is difficult and epidemiological studies are scarce. During the last decade, the urinary 1-hydroxypyrene has been used as a biomarker of environmental and occupational exposure to PAHs. Still no standard reference or occupational guidelines are available for any urinary PAH metabolite. Within the present work, sixty healthy and no smoking Portuguese firemen from ten Portuguese corporations from the district of Bragança (North of Portugal) were evaluated regarding their levels of the most important urinary hydroxyl- PAHs:

2015Conference object

Open access

Biomonitoring of firefighters occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during the 2014 hot season

Publication . Oliveira, Mónica; Slezakova, Klara; Fernandes, Adília; Vaz, Josiana A.; Teixeira, João Paulo Fernandes; Delerue-Matos, Cristina; Pereira, Maria do Carmo; Morais, Simone

Human biomonitoring is an important tool in environmental medicine that is used to assess the level of internal exposure to environmental pollutants. Firefighters are one of the most exposed and least studied occupations. During fire suppression, firefighters are heavily exposed to a wide range of chemicals.  Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants that are considered as the largest known group of carcinogens due to their cytotoxic and mutagenic properties (IARC 2010, WHO 2013). Smoke and ashes released during a fire are important sources of PAHs. Firefighters can be also exposed to PAHs through smoking, via polluted ambient air, water, soil, and through consumption of food.  Metabolites of PAHs (OH-PAHs), such as 1-hydroxynaphthalene (1OHNapt), 1-hydroxyacenaphthene(1OHAce), 1-hydroxypyrene (1OHPy) and 3-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene (3OHB[a]P) have been used as biological markers for measurements of human internal exposure to PAHs.  The present work aims to quantify the urinary metabolites of PAHs, namely 1OHNapt, 1OHAce, 1OHPy and 3OHB[a]P in study population of firefighters. Firemen exposed to fires that occurred during 2014 season were asked to fill a post-fire questionnaire and to collect urinary samples. A control study population group was selected to collect samples of urines during the pre-fires season (winter). Among all participating firemen only healthy no-smoking subjects were considered. OH-PAHs were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

2015Conference poster

Open access