Abstract
Exposure to vehicle exhaust has been associated with cardiac and respiratory disease, lung cancer, and greater overall mortality. We investigated whether amino- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (amino-PAH) metabolites of nitro-PAHs could be used as biomarkers of these exposures. Pre- and post-shift urine samples were collected at the beginning and end of a work week from 82 male U.S trucking industry workers. We used repeated-measures analysis to examine associations of total 1- and 2-aminonaphthalene (1 & 2-AN) and 1-aminopyrene (1-AP) urinary concentrations with microenvironment exposures to particulate matter (PM2.5), elemental and organic carbon, and between 1&2-AN and 1-AP with urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG). There was an association between work week mean PM2.5 levels and post-shift 1 & 2-AN, [141.8 pg/ml increase (95% CI:53.3, 230.2) for each IQR increase (5.54 µg/m3) in PM2.5,] but no associations with other exposure measures. There was a statistically significant increase in 8-OHdG concentrations with 1 & 2-AN (2.38 µg/mg creatinine (95%CI: 0.19, 4.58) per 242.85 pg/mg creatinine increase in 1 & 2-AN), and suggestive associations with all other exposure measures. Our findings suggest associations between urinary amino-PAHs with vehicle exhaust related PM2.5 as well as with a biomarker of oxidative DNA damage.
Highlights
Exposure to air pollution from traffic-related sources, including diesel exhaust, has been associated with cardiac and respiratory-related diseases, lung cancer and greater overall mortality [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
We assessed associations between urinary levels of two different measures of amino-PAHs, 1 & 1-aminonaphthalene and 2-aminonaphthalene (2-AN) and 1-AP, and job-specific exposures to various measures of air pollution in a population with regular occupational exposures to vehicle exhaust, at ranges overlapping with exposures experienced by the general population
While 2-AN has been found to be associated with smoking [38,39,40], no distinction in 1-AP levels between smokers and non-smokers was seen in a study of miners exposed to diesel exhaust [16], and it has been suggested that 1-AP may be a more diesel-specific biomarker
Summary
Exposure to air pollution from traffic-related sources, including diesel exhaust, has been associated with cardiac and respiratory-related diseases, lung cancer and greater overall mortality [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Most studies in humans have relied on measured or model-based predicted levels of external exposure. In contrast to external measures, biomarkers of exposure may improve exposure assessment by allowing the evaluation of the internal or biologically-effective dose [11]. Exposure biomarkers may improve the understanding of the potential mechanisms of action and pathophysiologic pathways and potentially help in the identification of susceptibility and variations in response [12,13,14]. Few biomarkers have been identified as indicators of traffic-related exposures. Certain nitro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (nitro-PAHs) are present in vehicle exhaust fumes, and their metabolites, amino-PAHs, have been proposed as biomarkers of vehicle exhaust exposures [12,13,14,15,16,17]
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