Assessment of Industrial Antimony Exposure and Immunologic Function for Workers in Taiwan.

Chin-Ching Wu,Yi-Chun Chen

doi:10.3390/ijerph14070689

Abstract

This study investigated antimony exposure among employees in industries in Taiwan and evaluated whether their immunologic markers were associated with antimony exposure. We recruited 91 male workers and 42 male office administrators from 2 glass manufacturing plants, 1 antimony trioxide manufacturing plants, and 2 engineering plastic manufacturing plants. Air samples were collected at worksites and administrative offices, and each participant provided specimens of urine, blood, and hair to assay antimony levels. We also determined white blood cells, lymphocyte, and monocyte, IgA, IgE, and IgG in blood specimens. The mean antimony concentration in the air measured at worksites was much higher in the antimony trioxide plant (2.51 ± 0.57 mg/m3) than in plastic plants (0.21 ± 0.06 mg/m3) and glass plants (0.14 ± 0.01 mg/m3). Antimony levels in blood, urine, and hair measured for participants were correlated with worksites and were higher in workers than in administrators. The mean serum IgG, IgA, and IgE levels were lower in workers than in administrators (p < 0.001). Serum IgA and IgE levels in participants were negatively associated with antimony levels in air samples of workplaces, and in blood, urine, and hairs of participants. Serum IgG and IgE of all participants were also negatively associated with antimony levels in their hairs. In conclusion, the antimony exposure is greater for workers employed in the five industrial plants than for administrators. This study suggests serum IgG, IgA, and IgE levels are negatively associated with antimony exposure.

Highlights

Antimony (Sb) and its compounds are widely used in some industries, including alloy, plastic, glass, and textile industries [1,2,3,4,5,6]
This study investigated antimony exposure levels among workers and administrative staff employed in three types of industry associated with manufacturing antimony compounds or using them, including industries producing antimony trioxide, and industries using antimony for manufacturing glass and engineering plastic products
The antimony levels in blood, urine, and hair were useful in evaluating the antimony exposure from worksites

Summary

Introduction

Antimony (Sb) and its compounds are widely used in some industries, including alloy, plastic, glass, and textile industries [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for exposure to antimony and compounds is. 0.5 mg/m3 of antimony in the workplace based on a working 8 h shift and a 40 h week [7]. Taiwan has adopted the 8 h time weighted average concentration of antimony and its compounds in the air of workplace at a level of 0.5 mg/m3 [8]. Antimony and its compounds may irritate eyes, skin, and respiratory systems, and are suspected to be carcinogenic and teratogenic substances [1,9,10,11,12,13]. Among rats exposed to substances containing Sb, only female rats developed lung cancer; 27% in those rats exposed to antimony trioxide and 25% in those rats exposed to antimony ore had the cancer [10]. Grosskopf et al reported that trivalent antimony was responsible for genotoxicity in the cellular system because antimony could partly impair the pathway of nucleotide repair [11]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion