Abstract
Refractory ceramic fibers (RCFs) can cause adverse health effects on workers’ respiratory system, yet no proper biomarkers have been used to detect early pulmonary injury of RCFs-exposed workers. This study assessed the levels of two biomarkers that are related to respiratory injury in RCFs-exposed workers, and explored their relations with lung function. The exposure levels of total dust and respirable fibers were measured simultaneously in RCFs factories. The levels of TGF-β1 and ceruloplasmin (CP) increased with the RCFs exposure level (p < 0.05), and significantly increased in workers with high exposure level (1.21 ± 0.49 ng/mL, 115.25 ± 32.44 U/L) when compared with the control group (0.99 ± 0.29 ng/mL, 97.90 ± 35.01 U/L) (p < 0.05). The levels of FVC and FEV1 were significantly decreased in RCFs exposure group (p < 0.05). Negative relations were found between the concentrations of CP and FVC (B = −0.423, p = 0.025), or FEV1 (B = −0.494, p = 0.014). The concentration of TGF-β1 (B = 0.103, p = 0.001) and CP (B = 8.027, p = 0.007) were associated with respirable fiber exposure level. Occupational exposure to RCFs can impair lung ventilation function and may have the potential to cause pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis. TGF-β1 and CP might be used as sensitive and noninvasive biomarkers to detect lung injury in occupational RCFs-exposed workers. Respirable fiber concentration can better reflect occupational RCFs exposure and related respiratory injuries.
Highlights
Refractory ceramic fibers (RCFs), termed as aluminosilicate wools (ASW), are amorphous fibers that belong to a class of materials, termed man-made vitreous fibers (MMVFs), which include glass wool, rock wool, slag wool, and special-purpose glass fibers [1,2]
343 subjects were involved in this survey. 172 subjects from six different RCFs-related workshops were defined as the RCFs-exposed group, while 171 subjects without exposure to RCFs or other occupational toxicants in the same factory were defined as the control group
172 RCFs-exposed workers and 171 controls were involved in this study
Summary
Refractory ceramic fibers (RCFs), termed as aluminosilicate wools (ASW), are amorphous fibers that belong to a class of materials, termed man-made vitreous fibers (MMVFs), which include glass wool, rock (stone) wool, slag wool, and special-purpose glass fibers [1,2]. RCFs have certain desirable properties, including high tensile strength, flexibility, low thermal conductivity, light weight, and low heat storage, which enable this material to be widely applied in industries, such as steel, foundry, and forging [3,4]. Adverse health effects of occupational exposure to RCFs have raised concern in recent years for the fibers’ respirable size and relatively high biopersistence [5]. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 42; doi:10.3390/ijerph15010042 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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