The usage of vinyl chloride and trichloroethylene in China has been increasing year by year, and they have been detected in both drinking water and environmental water, making them important environmental pollutants. Based on the latest research results on the health effects of vinyl chloride and trichloroethylene, the newly issued, "Standards for Drinking Water Quality (GB5749-2022)" in China has adjusted the standard limit of vinyl chloride from 0.005 mg/L to 0.001 mg/L and the standard limit of trichloroethylene from 0.07 mg/L to 0.02 mg/L. This article analyzed and discussed the relevant technical contents for determining the above standard limits, including the levels and exposure conditions of vinyl chloride and trichloroethylene in the water environment, health effects, derivation of safety reference values, and determination of hygiene standard limits. Suggestions were also made for the implementation of this standard.
Humans ; Vinyl Chloride/analysis* ; Trichloroethylene/analysis* ; Drinking Water ; Environmental Pollutants ; China ; Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis*

OBJECTIVETo screen out serum differential proteins between vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)-exposed workers and healthy controls by proteomics and analyze the functions of differential proteins, and to provide a basis for elucidating the pathogenesis of diseases caused by VCM exposure and searching for the protein biomarkers.

METHODSFasting venous blood was collected from 125 VCM-exposed workers and 40 healthy controls according to accumulated exposure doses. Proteins were precipitated by acetone precipitation. These proteins were identified by 2D-nano LC-ESI-TOF/MS and quantified by isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation. The functions of differential proteins were analyzed by gene ontology.

RESULTSA total of 596 proteins were identified, including 194 quantified proteins. There were 21 differential proteins according to the screening criteria (19 upregulated proteins and 2 downregulated proteins), including complement, apolipoprotein, and glycoprotein. The functions of these differential proteins were binding, enzyme regulator activity, catalytic activity, and transporter activity, and they were involved in the biological processes including immune system process and response to stimulus.

CONCLUSIONThe complement, apolipoprotein, and glycoprotein identified in the proteomics may be related to liver injury caused by VCM exposure, and they could be used as candidate protein biomarkers of diseases caused by VCM exposure.

Biomarkers ; blood ; Blood Proteins ; analysis ; Humans ; Liver ; injuries ; Occupational Exposure ; Proteins ; metabolism ; Proteomics ; Vinyl Chloride ; toxicity