title: Occupational exposure to urban stressors and effects on atrial natriuretic peptide: preliminary results.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this pilot study is to evaluate whether occupational exposure to low doses of pollutants present in the air of the city selected for the study could cause alterations in the concentration of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in workers from the Municipal Police with outdoor tasks, compared to those with indoor tasks.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 208 non-smoking male and female subjects were enrolled and divided on the basis of whether their tasks were mainly outdoors or indoors. The dosage of plasma ANP was carried out on all workers included in the study. Differences between means and frequencies were compared using student's t-test for unpaired data and chi-square test with Yates' correction, and they were considered significant when the p value was <0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Even after the subdivision of the total sample on the basis of sex, mean plasma levels of ANP were higher but not statistically significant in traffic police compared with controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The preliminary results suggest that further studies should be conducted before the influence of urban pollution on ANP could be confirmed or rejected.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Capozzella
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Gioffrè
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chighine
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sacco
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Casale
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Scala
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palatiello
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pimpinella
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tomei
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Rosati
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016495:Police; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor
keywords: Atrial natriuretic peptide; Occupational exposure; Outdoor and indoor workers; Urban pollutants