Abstract
BackgroundSewage workers provide an essential service in the protection of public and environmental health. However, they are exposed to varied mixtures of chemicals; some are known or suspected to be genotoxics or carcinogens. Thus, trying to relate adverse outcomes to single toxicant is inappropriate. We aim to investigate if sewage workers are at increased carcinogenic risk as evaluated by biomarkers of exposure and early biological effects.Methods/designThis cross sectional study will compare exposed sewage workers to non-exposed office workers. Both are voluntaries from Paris municipality, males, aged (20–60) years, non-smokers since at least six months, with no history of chronic or recent illness, and have similar socioeconomic status. After at least 3 days of consecutive work, blood sample and a 24-hour urine will be collected. A caffeine test will be performed, by administering coffee and collecting urines three hours after. Subjects will fill in self-administered questionnaires; one covering the professional and lifestyle habits while the a second one is alimentary. The blood sample will be used to assess DNA adducts in peripheral lymphocytes. The 24-hour urine to assess urinary 8-oxo-7, 8-dihydro-2'-deoxy-Guanosine (8-oxo-dG), and the in vitro genotoxicity tests (comet and micronucleus) using HeLa S3 or HepG2 cells. In parallel, occupational air sampling will be conducted for some Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Volatile Organic Compounds. A weekly sampling chronology at the offices of occupational medicine in Paris city during the regular medical visits will be followed. This protocol has been accepted by the French Est III Ethical Comitee with the number 2007-A00685-48.DiscussionBiomarkers of exposure and of early biological effects may help overcome the limitations of environmental exposure assessment in very complex occupational or environmental settings.
Highlights
Sewage workers provide an essential service in the protection of public and environmental health
As a result of their contact with wastes, sewage workers are exposed to complex mixtures of toxicants including pathogens, heavy metals, chlorinated organic solvents like chloroform, dichloroethane, perchloroethanol, other solvents, aldehydes, nitrosamines, pesticides, dyes, polychlorobiphenyls, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) [1,2,3]
We propose to carry out a cross sectional study comparing a exposed category of workers to multiple professional pollutants (Parisians sewage workers) with a non-exposed professional category workers by using biomarkers of exposure and early biological effects
Summary
Sewage workers provide an essential service in the protection of public and environmental health. As a result of their contact with wastes, sewage workers are exposed to complex mixtures of toxicants including pathogens, heavy metals, chlorinated organic solvents like chloroform, dichloroethane, perchloroethanol, other solvents (benzene, toluene), aldehydes, nitrosamines, pesticides, dyes, polychlorobiphenyls, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) [1,2,3]. Many of these compounds are known or suspected to be genotoxics and/or carcinogens [4,5,6], which suggests that those workers may be subject to elevated risk of cancer. This study didn't measure personal or workplace exposures; it used only qualitative information gathered by a questionnaire and the computerized register of the employees
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