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Liver and kidney serum profile abnormalities in workers exposed to aflatoxin B1 in urban solid waste management centers

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Abstract

Many workers are exposed to health problems arising from molds, fungi, and their toxins during waste processing. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) level in airborne and settled dust, aflatoxin B1-albumin (AFB1-Alb) adduct in serum, liver and kidney biochemical tests, and body redox change of workers in municipal dry waste-processing sites were investigated. The surface, personal, and area air dust and the blood of workers’ samples were collected from the plastic and bread waste-sorting sections in three recycling municipal dry waste sites. Digestion (only for serum samples), passed through SPE cartridge, elution, and collection with methanol, immune-affinity column clean-up, and HPLC system equipped with post-column derivatization method and fluorescence detection were performed for determination of AFB1 and AFB1-Alb levels in the samples. The mean level of dust and AFB1 in the personal and area air, and in the settled dust and the AFB1-Alb in the serum of workers in the bread waste sorting, was higher than plastic waste-sorting samples, in all of the sites. The differences in the biochemical profiles of subjects exposed to aflatoxin B1 as compared to the control group especially in liver and kidney function parameters as well as antioxidant factors of the serum were significant. The workers in handling of municipal waste may be exposed to potentially hazardous levels of aflatoxin B1. The adverse effects of AFB1 on the kidney and liver may be caused by changes in the redox system.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the staff of the waste management organization in the municipality of Karaj for their help.

Funding

This manuscript is a master’s thesis results in the field of air and waste occupational health and toxicology, thereby was supported financially by The Medical sciences Faculty of Tarbiat Modares University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational Health, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, P.O. Box. 14115-331, Iran

    Morvarid Karamkhani & Hassan Asilian-Mahabadi

  2. Department of Toxicology and Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box. 6153- 14155, Velenjak St., Shahid Chamran Highway, Tehran, Iran

    Bahram Daraei

  3. Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran

    Ali Seidkhani-Nahal & Ali Noori-Zadeh

  4. Student Research Committee, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran

    Ali Noori-Zadeh

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  1. Morvarid Karamkhani
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  2. Hassan Asilian-Mahabadi
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  3. Bahram Daraei
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  4. Ali Seidkhani-Nahal
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Correspondence to Hassan Asilian-Mahabadi or Bahram Daraei.

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Ethical consideration

The study conformed to the Helsinki declaration and was approved by the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Tarbiat Modares University Ethics Committee (IR.TMU.REC.1394.156). All of the participants were informed about the aims of the study, and blood samples were taken after the written consent form was taken from individuals who accepted to contribute to the study. None of the tests had cost for the participants, and the results were reported to them.

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Informed consent to participate in the study and publication of data (without identifying the personal data) was obtained from individuals.

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The study conformed to the Helsinki declaration and was approved by the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Tarbiat Modares University Ethics Committee (IR.TMU.REC.1394.156).

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Karamkhani, M., Asilian-Mahabadi, H., Daraei, B. et al. Liver and kidney serum profile abnormalities in workers exposed to aflatoxin B1 in urban solid waste management centers. Environ Monit Assess 192, 472 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-08422-y

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