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Abstract
The exposure to diesel exhaust was studied in underground mining of oil shale in Estonia. The purpose of this study was to evaluate different approaches to exposure assessment. Fifty men who drove diesel-powered excavators underground were compared with 50 surface workers who had no known occupational exposure to diesel exhaust. Samples of respirable air were analyzed for 1-nitropyrene and pyrene. Urine samples were collected at the start and after the first and the last shift of the same week, and were analyzed for 1-hydroxypyrene. Although ambient monitoring of 1-nitropyrene indicated a relatively high exposure of underground workers to diesel exhaust compared to surface workers (approximately 10-fold higher), only a small increase in the excretion of 1-hydroxypyerene was observed. Nonoccupational exposures such as smoking, recent consumption of grilled food, and recent proximity to an open fire had a greater impact on urinary excretion of 1-hydroxypyrene than occupational exposure to diesel exhaust.
Acknowledgments
This study was carried out with support from the EU (Contract no. BMH4-CT98 3458 and no. ERB IC20 CT98 0211). The authors thank E. Väli who supported the collection of data, and the management and staff of the mine.
Notes
a The 1-NP content could not be quantified in seven workers because the area of the internal standard peak was too low (see Materials and Methods section). Air sampling failed in one worker.
*p <.01 (Mann-Whitney test)
**p <.001 (Cuzick test for trend).
a Not detected. Half of the limit of detection was used for calculations.
*p <.01 (Wilcoxon signed-rank test)
**p <.001 (Wilcoxon signed-rank test).
a Based on 42 measurements (results from two workers were missing).