Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites in urine of coke oven workers in Turkey and exposure assessment

Abstract

Coke-oven workers are occupationally exposed to high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In this study, 1-hydroxypyrene, 9-hydroxyphenantrene, and 3-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene levels were determined in the urine of occupationally exposed coke-oven worker as markers of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The validated high-pressure liquid chromatography method with fluorescence detection was performed for metabolite analysis. Average values of 1-hydroxypyrene were 1.26 µmol/mol creatinine and of 9-hydroxyphenantrene 3.68 µmol/mol creatinine in the workers group, and 0.04 and 0.06 µmol/mol creatinine in the control group. While the average value of 3-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene was 0.007 µmol/mol creatinine in the workers group, it was below the limit of detection in the control group. All of the mean 1-hydroxypyrene values (coke-oven workers overall mean = 1.26 μmol/mol creatinine; high exposure group mean = 1.91 μmol/mol creatinine; low exposure group mean = 0.66 μmol/mol creatinine) obtained in the workers group were higher than the biological exposure index (0.5 μmol/mol creatinine) that warrants occupational exposure proposed by American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists. Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene mean levels of all coke-oven workers and the high exposure group exceeded the no observed genotoxic effect level of 1 μmol/mol creatinine.

Keywords:

• PAH metabolites
• occupational exposure
• biomonitoring
• toxicity
• risk assessment

Acknowledgements

This article is produced from Nesrin İÇLİ's doctoral dissertation conducted at the Ankara University Institute of Forensic Sciences. Part of this study was presented in the poster session of “51st Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology (EUROTOX)” and it was as an abstract included in the abstract book of the symposium as part of a special issue of Toxicology Letters (Volume 238, Issue 2, Supplement, 2015, Page S357).

Disclosure statement

The author reports no conflict of interest.