Exposure to ethylene oxide in hospitals: biological monitoring and influence of glutathione S-transferase and epoxide hydrolase polymorphisms.
Ethylene oxide is considered as a human carcinogen. A biomarker of exposure would be a useful instrument to assess the risk in occupationally exposed workers. This cross-sectional study aimed at examining (a) whether the urinary excretion of a metabolite of ethylene oxide, 2-hydroxyethyl mercapturic acid (HEMA), could be used for monitoring occupational exposure and (b) whether glutathione S-transferase (GST) and epoxide hydrolase genotypes influenced biological monitoring. Exposure to ethylene oxide was measured by personal sampling in 80 hospital workers (95% of those eligible). HEMA concentrations were determined in three urine samples (baseline, end of shift, and next morning) by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. GSTs (GSTT1, GSTM1, and GSTP1) and epoxide hydrolase (EPHX1) were also genotyped. The influence of exposure, genotypes, and several other factors was examined in multiple regression analyses. Exposure was always <1 parts per million. On a group basis, exposure and a non-null GSTT1 genotype increased the HEMA concentrations in the urine sample collected at the end of the shift and these factors remained statistically significant after considering possible confounding or modifying factors.
Haufroid
Vincent
V
Industrial Toxicology and Occupational Medicine Unit, Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Merz
Brigitte
B
Hofmann
Annette
A
Tschopp
Alois
A
Lison
Dominique
D
Hotz
Philippe
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D004851:Epoxide Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics*; D005027:Ethylene Oxide / Q000633:toxicity / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000235:genetics*; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012307:Risk Factors
D015415:Biomarkers; D005982:Glutathione Transferase; D004851:Epoxide Hydrolases; D005027:Ethylene Oxide