Cancer risk of petrochemical workers exposed to airborne PAHs in industrial Lanzhou City, China

Abstract

This paper reports the connections between red blood cells abnormality risk of petrochemical workers and their exposure to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), as the biomarker of PAHs exposure, was adopted to assess the exposure risk of the petrochemical workers to PAHs in Xigu, the west suburb of Lanzhou where petrochemical industries are located. Fifty-three workers, sub-grouped to 36 petrochemical workers and 17 office workers, participated in this investigation. Logistic regression model and spearman correlation analysis were performed to estimate the associations between PAHs exposure levels and red blood cells abnormality risk of petrochemical workers. Strong associations between some red cell indices (MCH, MCHC, RDW) and 1-OHP concentration were found. Results also show that the red blood cells abnormality risk increased with increasing PAHs exposure level. Compared with office workers, risk level of red blood cells abnormality in petrochemical workers was higher by 41.7 % (OR, 1.417; 95 % CI: 0.368-5.456) than that in office workers. This result was verified by the tissue-to-human blood partition coefficient for pyrene and 1-OHP. The quantitative assessments of the potential health risk through inhalation exposure to PAHs were conducted using the Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR) model. It was found the ILCR from inhalation exposure to PAHs for the petrochemical workers ranged from 10(-5) to 10(-4) with 95 % probability, indicating that petrochemical plant workers were under a high potential cancer risk level.

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“…In addition, the subjects in our study group had significantly higher HCT and MCHC levels compared to the control group, which is likely due to exposure to PAHs. These findings are in alignment with the study conducted by (Wang et al) [24] which showed significantly higher hemoglobin levels with some atypical appearance of the red blood cells, which were attributed to exposure to PAHs.…”

Chemical composition of PM10 and its effect on in vitro hemolysis of human red blood cells (RBCs): a comparison study during dust storm and inversion

“…Wang et al investigated the associations between exposure levels to the airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and RBCs abnormality risk in the petrochemical workers. Results showed that RBCs abnormality risk would be elevated with the increased PAHs exposure level [18]. Kargarfard et al also reported decreased RBCs count after aerobic exercises in the polluted air [19].…”

Application of Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) for the Treatment of Petrochemical Industry Wastewater

“…A study conducted by Hajizadeh et al (2018) in a petrochemical plant in Iran found that when workers are exposed to VOCs such as phenol, ethylbenzene, benzene, styrene, and phenol in ambient air, they are likely to suffer from cancer. A similar study was conducted Wang et al (2015) in China on PAH exposure of workers employed in a petrochemical plant. It was observed that the workers had a higher risk of developing cancer compared to normal people.…”