The exposure of temple workers to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
Five temples, each a different size, were selected for this study. Two of the temples were located in Taichung City (in central Taiwan), and three were in Tainan City (in Southern Taiwan). Aerosols smaller than 10 microm aerodynamic diameter (PM(10)) were collected by using personal collection samplers during pilgrim days (the first and fifteenth day of each lunar month) and normal days (all other days). Regression analysis showed that about 1.6 microg/m(3) of PM(10) contributed to the workers' exposure in the temples for each joss stick increase in the censer. The concentrations of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (t-PAHs) and carcinogenic PAHs (car-PAHs) on pilgrim days were higher than those on normal days. Mean concentrations of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) in the pre-shift and post-shift workers of the five temples on normal days were 1.20 and 1.61 microg/g creatinine, respectively. Furthermore, the post-shift concentrations of 1-OHP in the workers of temples on pilgrim days were all higher than those of the workers of corresponding temples on normal days. Significant relationships between the urinary concentrations of 1-OHP and the exposure concentrations of pyrene, total PAHs and BaP(eq) were found in the workers of the temples. Results of linear regression showed that the increase of unit concentration (1 ng/m(3)) of pyrene led to a 0.05 microg/g creatinine increase of urinary 1-OHP, while the increase of unit concentration (1 ng/m(3)) of BaP(eq) resulted in an increase of 0.03 microg/g creatinine of urinary 1-OHP.
Department of Public Health, College of Health Care and Management, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40242, Taiwan, ROC. kcy@csmu.edu.tw
Chung-Yih
CY
Kuo
Yu-Huan
YH
Yang
Mu-Rong
MR
Chao
Chiung-Wen
CW
Hu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000336:Aerosols; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000633:toxicity / Q000652:urine*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine*; D002947:Cities; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D008875:Middle Aged; D052638:Particulate Matter; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000633:toxicity / Q000652:urine*; D011721:Pyrenes / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013624:Taiwan; D013997:Time Factors
D000336:Aerosols; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D015415:Biomarkers; D052638:Particulate Matter; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D011721:Pyrenes; D003404:Creatinine; C033146:1-hydroxypyrene