OBJECTIVE: Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or metal(loid)s individually has been associated with neural tube defects (NTDs). However, the impacts of PAH and metal(loid) co-exposure and potential interaction effects on NTD risk remain unclear. We conducted a case-control study in China among population with a high prevalence of NTDs to investigate the combined effects of PAH and metal(loid) exposures on the risk of NTD. METHODS: Cases included 80 women who gave birth to offspring with NTDs, whereas controls were 50 women who delivered infants with no congenital malformations. We analyzed the levels of placental PAHs using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, PAH-DNA adducts with ³²P-post-labeling method, and metal(loid)s with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Unconditional logistic regression was employed to estimate the associations between individual exposures and NTDs. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) penalized regression models were used to select a subset of exposures, while additive interaction models were used to identify interaction effects. RESULTS: In the single-exposure models, we found that eight PAHs, PAH-DNA adducts, and 28 metal(loid)s were associated with NTDs. Pyrene, selenium, molybdenum, cadmium, uranium, and rubidium were selected through LASSO regression and were statistically associated with NTDs in the multiple-exposure models. Women with high levels of pyrene and molybdenum or pyrene and selenium exhibited significantly increased risk of having offspring with NTDs, indicating that these combinations may have synergistic effects on the risk of NTDs. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that individual PAHs and metal(loid)s, as well as their interactions, may be associated with the risk of NTDs, which warrants further investigation.
Humans ; Neural Tube Defects/chemically induced* ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons/adverse effects* ; Female ; Case-Control Studies ; China/epidemiology* ; Adult ; Pregnancy ; Environmental Pollutants ; Maternal Exposure/adverse effects* ; Metals/toxicity* ; Young Adult ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVE: The study aim was to investigate the effects of exposure to multiple environmental organic pollutants on cardiopulmonary health with a focus on the potential mediating role of oxidative stress. METHODS: A repeated-measures randomized crossover study involving healthy college students in Beijing was conducted. Biological samples, including morning urine and venous blood, were collected to measure concentrations of 29 typical organic pollutants, including hydroxy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs), bisphenol A and its substitutes, phthalates and their metabolites, parabens, and five biomarkers of oxidative stress. Health assessments included blood pressure measurements and lung function indicators. RESULTS: Urinary concentrations of 2-hydroxyphenanthrene (2-OH-PHE) ( β = 4.35% [95% confidence interval ( CI): 0.85%, 7.97%]), 3-hydroxyphenanthrene ( β = 3.44% [95% CI: 0.19%, 6.79%]), and 4-hydroxyphenanthrene (4-OH-PHE) ( β = 5.78% [95% CI: 1.27%, 10.5%]) were significantly and positively associated with systolic blood pressure. Exposures to 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OH-PYR) ( β = 3.05% [95% CI: -4.66%, -1.41%]), 2-OH-PHE ( β = 2.68% [95% CI: -4%, -1.34%]), and 4-OH-PHE ( β = 3% [95% CI: -4.68%, -1.29%]) were negatively associated with the ratio of forced expiratory volume in the first second to forced vital capacity. These findings highlight the adverse effects of exposure to multiple pollutants on cardiopulmonary health. Biomarkers of oxidative stress, including 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine and extracellular superoxide dismutase, mediated the effects of multiple OH-PAHs on blood pressure and lung function. CONCLUSION Exposure to multiple organic pollutants can adversely affect cardiopulmonary health. Oxidative stress is a key mediator of the effects of OH-PAHs on blood pressure and lung function.
Humans ; Oxidative Stress/drug effects* ; Male ; Cross-Over Studies ; Female ; Young Adult ; Environmental Pollutants/toxicity* ; Environmental Exposure/adverse effects* ; Biomarkers/blood* ; Adult ; Blood Pressure/drug effects* ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons/urine* ; Beijing

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Air Pollutants ; adverse effects ; Blood Chemical Analysis ; Coke ; adverse effects ; Environmental Exposure ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ; adverse effects ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To study the association of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-related behaviors in toddlers. METHODS: A total of 348 toddlers who had accepted the measurement of PAH-DNA adduct in umbilical cord blood and evaluation of behavior problems at the age of 36 months were enrolled in this birth cohort study. Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) were used to evaluate behavior problems at the age of 36 months. The correlation of the concentration of PAH-DNA adduct in umbilical cord blood with CBCL and ABC scores at the age of 36 months were analyzed. RESULTS: The detection rate of PAH-DNA adduct in umbilical cord blood was 52.3%, and the median concentration was 0.68 ng/mL. The median total scores of CBCL and ABC scales were 23 and 8 respectively. In children aged 36 months, the concentration of PAH-DNA adduct was positively correlated with the score of social withdrawal in the CBCL scale (r=0.205, P<0.05), the total score of the ABC scale (r=0.412, P<0.05), and the self-care score of the ABC scale (r=0.355, P<0.05). The concentration of PAH-DNA adduct was closely associated with the total score of the ABC scale in children aged 36 months (β=0.122, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS PAH exposure during pregnancy may be a risk factor for ASD-related behaviors in toddlers. Effective reduction of PAH exposure during pregnancy and detection of PAH-DNA adduct in neonatal umbilical cord blood are of vital importance for early prevention, screening and intervention of ASD.
Autism Spectrum Disorder ; chemically induced ; Child Behavior ; Child, Preschool ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Fetal Blood ; Humans ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ; adverse effects ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects ; chemically induced

OBJECTIVETo compare the difference of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) levels in the urban air and the scores of Neonatal Behavioral Neurological Assessment (NBNA) between Taiyuan and Changzhi cities and to explore the effects of PAHs in the urban air during pregnancy on neonatal behavioral neurological development.

METHODSHigh-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with subsequent fluorescence detection was used to determine the PAHs levels in the cooperational hospitals in Changzhi and Taiyuan cities and the urinary 1-hydroxypyrene levels of the 297 pregnant women living Changzhi and Taiyuan cities during Nov. 2009 to May 2010. NBNA was used to determine the development of neonatal neural behavior. The differences of PAHs levels in the urban air, the pregnant women urinary 1-hydroxypyrene levels and NBNA scores between Taiyuan and Changzhi were compared.

RESULTSThere are significant differences of levels of pyrene, benz [a] anthracene, Chrysene, benz [a] pyrene, dibenz [a, h] anthracene in the urban air between Taiyuan and Changzhi (P < 0.10). The median of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene levels in pregnant women of Taiyuan was 1.140 microg/mmolCr, (P25 was 0.457 microg/mmolCr, P75 was 2.678 microg/mmolCr), the median of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene levels in pregnant women of Changzhi was 0.761 microg/mmolCr, (P25 was 0.133 microg/mmolCr, P75 was 2.095 microg/mmolCr). There are significant differences of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene levels in pregnant women between Taiyuan and Changzhi (t = -3.140, P = 0.002). There are significant differences of the NBNA scores, capacity scores, passive muscle tension scores, active muscle tension scores and general assessment scores between Taiyuan and Changzhi (P < 0.10). There was correlation between NBNA scores and urinary 1-hydroxypyrene level in pregnant women.

CONCLUSIONThe PAHs in the urban air during pregnancy may adversely affect the neonatal neurobehavioral development.

Air Pollutants ; adverse effects ; analysis ; urine ; Breast Feeding ; Child Development ; drug effects ; China ; Cities ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Maternal Exposure ; adverse effects ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ; adverse effects ; analysis ; urine ; Pregnancy

Air pollution is associated with numerous diseases. In recent years,researches have increasingly showed that epigenetic modifications usually occur at the early stage of diseases, and make greater contributions to the occurrence and development of diseases compared to genetic abnormalities. Thus, researches on epigenetic effects of air pollution would serve for better understanding the interaction between air pollutants and genome in the pathogenesis of disease. Meanwhile, in order to reduce the exposure to air pollution and diminish the adverse effects related, further studies are needed to identify epigenetic biomarkers of air pollution so that we can take timely and effective measures in disease prevention.
Air Pollutants ; adverse effects ; Air Pollution ; adverse effects ; Benzene ; adverse effects ; Epigenesis, Genetic ; Humans ; Particulate Matter ; adverse effects ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ; adverse effects ; Radiation, Ionizing

BACKGROUNDPrevious investigations indicate that cooks are exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from cooking oil fumes (COF). However, Emission of PAH and their carcinogenic potencies from cooking oil fumes sources have not been investigated among cooks.

AIMSTo investigate the urinary excretion of a marker for oxidative DNA damage, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), in different groups of cooks and different exposure groups, and to study the association between 8-OHdG and 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), a biological marker for PAH exposure.

METHODSUrine samples were collected from different groups of cooks (n = 86) and from unexposed controls (n = 36), all are male with similar age and smoking habits. The health status, occupational history, smoking, and alcohol consumption 24 hours prior to sampling was estimated from questionnaires. The urinary samples were frozen for later analyses of 8-OHdG and 1-OHP by high performance liquid chromatography.

RESULTSExcretion in urine of 8-OHdG were similar for controls (mean 1.2 µmol/mol creatinine, n = 36), and for those who had been in the kitchen room with exhaust hood operation (mean 1.5 µmol/mol creatinine, n = 45). COF exposed cooks without exhaust hood operation had increased excretion of 8-OHdG (mean 2.3 µmol/mol creatinine, n = 18). The difference between this group and the unexposed controls was significant. The urinary levels of ln 1-OHP and ln 8-OHdG were still significantly correlated in a multiple regression analysis.

CONCLUSIONResults indicate that exposure to PAH or possibly other compounds in COF may cause oxidative DNA damage.

Adult ; Air Pollutants, Occupational ; urine ; Cooking ; DNA Damage ; Deoxyguanosine ; analogs & derivatives ; urine ; Humans ; Male ; Occupational Exposure ; Oils ; adverse effects ; Oxidative Stress ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ; adverse effects ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVEThe coal-fired pollution in Xuanwei area has been considered to be local main reason for high incidence of female lung cancer. The aim of this study is to explore the expression of PAH-DNA adducts in lung tissues of Xuanwei female lung cancer patients and to explore the relationship between the large number of coal-fired pollution PAHs materials and the high incidence of Xuanwei female lung cancer.

METHODSWe totally collected each 20 cases of Xuanwei female lung cancer patients, Xuanwei male lung cancer patients, Non-Xuanwei female lung cancer patients and collect each 10 cases of Xuanwei, Non-Xuanwei female patients with benign lung lesions. The cancer tissues, adjacent cancer tissues and normal lung tissues were collected in lung cancer patients and only the normal tissues were collected in benign lung lesion patients. There were total 80 cases and 200 tissues. Immunofluorescence was used to detect the expression of PAH-DNA adducts in each group. Image pro-plus 6.0 software was used to analyze the images and part quantified analysis. SPSS 13.0 statistical software was used to analyze the data.

RESULTSThe positive expression of PAH-DNA adducts in lung cancer tissues, adjacent cancer tissues and normal lung tissues of Xuanwei female lung cancer patients were 90%, 80% and 65%. They were higher than the positive expression of PAH-DNA adducts in Xuanwei male lung cancer patients (35%, 30%, 30%) and Non-Xuanwei female lung cancer patients (20%, 15%, 10%) (P < 0.01). The expressions in lung tissues ofXuanwei female benign lung lesion patients (positive expression is 70%) were higher than it in Non-Xuanwei female benign lung lesion patients (positive expression is 10%). With the direction changing from cancer tissues, adjacent cancer tissues to normal lung tissues, the expressions of PAH-DNA adducts were decreased but had no statistical difference (P > 0.05S).

CONCLUSIONThe expressions of PAH-DNA adducts in lung tissues of Xuanwei female were higher than which in Xuanwei male and Non-Xuanwei female.

Adult ; Aged ; Air Pollution, Indoor ; adverse effects ; Coal ; DNA Adducts ; analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Lung ; chemistry ; Lung Neoplasms ; chemistry ; etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo explore the association between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure and telomere length (TL), so as to investigate the effective biomarkers to evaluate the genetic damage in peripheral blood of workers exposed to PAHs.

METHODSThe exposure group consisted of 145 coke-oven workers (including 30 top-oven workers, 76 side-oven workers and 39 bottom-oven workers), and the non-exposure control group comprised 68 medical staffs. At 6 hours after the weekend duty shift, the samples of urine and 1 ml venous blood were collected from each subject. Airborne benzene-soluble matter (BSM) and particulate-phase B(a)P in the working environment of coke-oven and controls were sampled and analyzed. The concentration of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHPyr) was determined. A real-time PCR method was used to determine the relative telomere length (RTL) of genomic DNA in peripheral blood. The relationship between the RTL and external exposure of PAHs, the potential factors which might have influence on TL were analyzed.

RESULTSThe medians of air BSM and particulate-phase B(a)P were higher in coke-oven (BSM: 328.6 µg/m(3); B(a)P: 926.9 ng/m(3)) than those in control working environment (BSM:97.8 µg/m(3); B(a)P: 49.1 ng/m(3)). The level of 1-OHPyr among coke-oven workers was significantly higher than that of non-exposed group (12.2 µmol/mol Cr vs 0.7 µmol/mol Cr; t = 26.971, P < 0.01). RTL in coke-oven workers were significantly shorter than those of controls (1.10 ± 0.75 vs 1.43 ± 1.06; t = 2.263, P = 0.026), and after adjusting for cigarettes per day and urinary 1-OHPyr, the significant difference was still observed (F(adju) = 5.496, P(adju) = 0.020). Stratification analysis found that RTL among the male and non-drinking groups in coke-oven workers were shorter than those the same sex and alcohol using status in controls (1.08 ± 0.73 vs 1.51 ± 1.10, F = 9.212, P = 0.003; 0.96 ± 0.38 vs 1.26 ± 0.46, F = 6.484, P = 0.012). Significant correlation between RTL and age was found (r = -0.284, P = 0.019) in non-exposure group.

CONCLUSIONPAH-exposure has effect on TL of genomic DNA in peripheral blood, which is mainly observed in the male and non-drinking groups between PAH-exposed workers and controls. It indicates that TL of genomic DNA in peripheral blood might be an effective biomarker as PAH-induced genetic damage.

Adult ; Benzene ; Case-Control Studies ; Coke ; DNA Damage ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Occupational Exposure ; adverse effects ; analysis ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ; adverse effects ; analysis ; Pyrenes ; analysis ; Telomere ; drug effects ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between the expression of heat shock protein 90, 60 and 27 (HSP90, HSP60 and HSP27) and genetic damage in peripheral blood of workers exposed to coke oven emissions.

METHODS288 coke oven workers in a steel factory were divided into the high-dose group and the low-dose group on the basis of environment monitoring result and work place. There were 172 men in high-dose group (workers who worked at the oven top and oven side) and 116 men in low-dose group (workers who worked at the oven bottom and others who were engaged to aided work). 38 workers unexposed occupationally to carcinogenic substances were selected as the control group, who were employed in medical therapy unit nearby 2 kilometers from the steel factory. Their general information, history of personal and occupational exposure, and the work environment were investigated. Blood samples were collected immediately after a shift at the end of a working day from 288 coke oven workers and 38 control workers. Levels of HSP90, HSP60 and HSP27 in peripheral blood lymphocytes were measured by Western blot, and the degree of DNA damage was detected by the comet assay.

RESULTSLevels of HSP90 in peripheral blood lymphocytes in three groups were 0.24 +/- 0.32, 0.12 +/- 0.30 and 0.06 +/- 0.33 respectively. They increased significantly compared with that of the control. But levels of HSP60 and HSP27 were not significantly different among those groups. Compared with the control group, there was significant difference in tail length, olive tail moment et al of SCGE (G +/- s(G)) of occupational exposure workers. High-dose group > low-dose group > control group (P < 0.05). The degree of DNA damage increased with the rise of exposure BaP dose (Spearman r = -0.345, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONLevels of HSP90 in peripheral blood lymphocytes and the degree of DNA damage increase with the rise of exposure polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) dose.

Adult ; Chaperonin 60 ; blood ; Coke ; adverse effects ; Comet Assay ; DNA Damage ; drug effects ; HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins ; blood ; HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins ; blood ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; metabolism ; Male ; Occupational Exposure ; adverse effects ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ; adverse effects