Effects of occupational exposure to carbon black on peripheral white blood cell counts and lymphocyte subsets.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified carbon black (CB) as a possible (Group 2B) human carcinogen. Given that most CB manufacturing processes result in the emission of various types of chemicals, it is uncertain if the adverse health effects that have been observed in CB-exposed workers are related to CB specifically or are due to other exposures. To address this issue, we conducted a cross-sectional molecular epidemiology study in China of 106 male factory workers who were occupationally exposed to pure CB and 112 unexposed male workers frequency-matched by age and smoking status from the same geographic region. Repeated personal exposure measurements were taken in workers before biological sample collection. Peripheral blood from all workers was used for the complete blood cell count and lymphocyte subsets analysis. Compared to unexposed workers, eosinophil counts in workers exposed to CB were increased by 30.8% (P = 0.07) after adjusting for potential confounders. When stratified by smoking status, statistically significant differences in eosinophils between CB exposed and unexposed workers were only present among never smokers (P = 0.040). Smoking is associated with alterations in various cell counts; however, no significant interaction between CB exposure and smoking status for any cell counts was observed. Given that inflammation, characterized in part by elevated eosinophils in peripheral blood, may be associated with increased cancer risk, our findings provide new biologic insights into the potential relationship between CB exposure and lung carcinogenesis. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 57:589-604, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Key Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China.|Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland.
Yufei
Y
Dai
Key Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China.
Yong
Y
Niu
Key Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China.
Huawei
H
Duan
Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland.
Bryan A
BA
Bassig
Key Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China.
Meng
M
Ye
Key Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China.
Xiao
X
Zhang
Key Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China.
Tao
T
Meng
Key Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China.
Ping
P
Bin
Key Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China.
Xiaowei
X
Jia
Key Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China.
Meili
M
Shen
Key Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China.|Department of Toxicology School of Public Health, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
Rong
R
Zhang
Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland.
Wei
W
Hu
Jiao Zuo Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jiaozuo, China.
Xiaofa
X
Yang
Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Roel
R
Vermeulen
Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland.
Debra
D
Silverman
Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland.
Nathaniel
N
Rothman
Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland. zhengyx@chinacdc.cn.
Qing
Q
Lan
Henan Provincial Institute for Occupational Health, Zhengzhou, China. yu-shanfa@163.com.
Shanfa
S
Yu
Key Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China. qingl@mail.nih.gov.
Yuxin
Y
Zheng
D000328:Adult; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D053260:Soot / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*
D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D016207:Cytokines; D052638:Particulate Matter; D053260:Soot
carbon black; immunotoxicity; inflammation; occupational exposure
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