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Biological monitoring of human exposure to coal tar

Urinary excretion of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 1-hydroxypyrene and mutagens in psoriatic patients

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Summary

Three methods for the biological monitoring of human exposure to coal tar were compared. Levels of 1-hydroxypyrene(1-OH PYR), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and mutagens (Ames plate incorporation assay using Salmonella typhimurium strain TA98 in the presence of S9 and β-glucuronidase) were determined in urinary samples from psoriatic patients undergoing topical treatment with mineral coal tar. A single sample of urine with a high content of PAH was diluted with urine of non-exposed, non-smoking subjects in order to obtain nine samples with a decreasing content of PAH metabolites. Mutagenicity of the extracts was detectable down to the dilution corresponding to a content in 1-OH PYR of about 50 μg/g creatinine and total PAH of 7 μg/g creatinine. In a second phase the three indicators of exposure to PAH were compared in 16 urinary samples from four psoriatic patients. The total PAH levels determined by the acidic deconjugation/reduction method were confirmed to be nearly always lower than the corresponding levels of 1-OH PYR alone. Most of the extracts were mutagenic, however, some of the samples with a high content in PAH metabolites were not mutagenic. In all the urinary samples analyzed the excretion of 1-OH PYR was markedly greater than in control subjects. 1-OH PYR and urinary mutagenicity levels were well correlated. The present data suggest that both the determination of mutagenicity and 1-OH PYR in urine may be used to monitor occupational exposure to PAH, the latter method being cheaper and of greater specificity and sensitivity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Occupational Health, University of Padua, Italy

    Erminio Clonfero

  2. Department of Biology, University of Padua, Italy

    Mauro Zordan, Paola Venier, Maurizio Paleologo & Angelo G. Levis

  3. Occupational Health Clinic, University of Pavia, Italy

    Danilo Cottica & Luigi Pozzoli

  4. Department of Toxicology, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Frans J. Jongeneelen, Robert P. Bos & Robert B. M. Anzion

Authors
  1. Erminio Clonfero
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  2. Mauro Zordan
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  3. Paola Venier
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  4. Maurizio Paleologo
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  5. Angelo G. Levis
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  6. Danilo Cottica
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  7. Luigi Pozzoli
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  8. Frans J. Jongeneelen
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  9. Robert P. Bos
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  10. Robert B. M. Anzion
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Clonfero, E., Zordan, M., Venier, P. et al. Biological monitoring of human exposure to coal tar. Int Arch Occup Environ Heath 61, 363–368 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381025

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381025

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