Thyroid hormones in male workers exposed to urban stressors.
BACKGROUND
The occupational exposure to urban pollution may induce adverse effects on the human health.


METHODS
Plasma levels of thyrotropin stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4) and free triiodothyronine (FT3) of 50 outdoor workers and 50 indoor workers were compared.


RESULTS
In the outdoor workers the TSH levels were significantly higher than in the control subjects (p =0.02) while the average of FT3 and FT4 values, was not significantly different compared to the controls (p > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The differences found for TSH levels between outdoor and indoor workers, though not high, suggest that, due to greater exposure to environmental pollutants, the outdoor workers are more susceptible to the development of function abnormalities of the thyroid gland compared to indoor workers.
Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
T
T
Caciari
Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
T
T
Casale
Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
A
A
Capozzella
Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
S
S
De Sio
Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
M V
MV
Rosati
Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
A
A
Suppi
Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
M
M
Marrocco
Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
C
C
Cardella
Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris, France.
J-C
JC
Andrè
Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
G
G
Cancanelli
Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
I
I
Samperi
Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
F
F
Tomei
Department of Psychiatric and Psychological Science, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
G
G
Tomei
Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
A
A
Sancini
D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016495:Police / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood*; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000097:blood*; D014284:Triiodothyronine / Q000097:blood*; D014504:Urban Health
D015415:Biomarkers; D014284:Triiodothyronine; D013972:Thyrotropin; D013974:Thyroxine