title: Exposure of garbage truck drivers and maintenance personnel at a waste handling centre to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons derived from diesel exhaust.
abstract: Exposure to diesel exhaust was evaluated in summer and winter by measuring vapour and particle phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Fifteen PAHs were simultaneously determined from the air samples obtained from truck drivers collecting household waste and maintenance personnel at a waste handling centre. The major compounds analysed from the personal air samples of exposed workers were naphthalene, phenanthrene and fluorene. The total PAH exposure (sum of 15 PAHs) of garbage truck drivers ranged from 71 to 2,660 ng m(-3) and from 68 to 900 ng m-3 in the maintenance work. The exposure of garbage truck drivers to benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) ranged from the mean of 0.03 to 0.3 ng m(-3) whereas no B[a]P in control samples or in those collected from maintenance workers was detected. A statistically significant difference in diesel-derived PAH exposure between the garbage truck drivers and the control group in both seasons (in summer p = 0.0022, degrees of freedom (df) 70.5; and in winter p < 0.0001, df = 80.4) was observed. Also, a significant difference in PAH exposure between the garbage truck drivers and the maintenance workers (in summer p < 0.0001, df = 50.1; and in winter p < 0.0001, df = 44.2) was obtained.
authors.affiliation: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Chemistry Laboratory, Helsinki.
authors.forename: Leea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kuusimäki
authors.forename: Yrjö
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peltonen
authors.forename: Eila
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kyyrö
authors.forename: Pertti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mutanen
authors.forename: Kimmo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Peltonen
authors.forename: Kirsti
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Savela
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005735:Garbage; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010316:Particle Size; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D012621:Seasons; D001335:Vehicle Emissions / Q000032:analysis*; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D001335:Vehicle Emissions