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Association of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolite concentration in urine and occupational stress in underground coal miners in China: propensity score and bayesian kernel machine regression

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Abstract

This study intends to examine the association of urinary monohydroxyl PAHs (OH-PAHs) concentration and occupational stress in coal miners. We sampled 671 underground coal miners from Datong, China, assessed their occupational stress using the Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised edition (OSI-R), and categorized them into the high stress miners and controls based on that. We determined urinary OH-PAHs concentration using ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and analyzed its association with occupational stress using multiple linear regression, covariate balancing generalized propensity score (CBGPS), and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR). The low molecular weight (LMW) OH-PAHs in quartile or homologue was significantly positively associated with Occupational Role Questionnaire (ORQ) and Personal Strain Questionnaire (PSQ) score, but was not associated with Personal Resources Questionnaire (PRQ) score. The OH-PAHs concentration was positively associated with ORQ and PSQ scores in coal miners, particularly the LMW OH-PAHs. Non-association was found in the OH-PAHs with PRQ score.

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Data availability

The data and materials are not available due to the study participant privacy protection.

Abbreviations

PAHs:

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

OH-PAHs:

Hydroxyl PAHs

1-OH-Nap:

1-Hydroxynaphthalene

2-OH-Nap:

2-Hydroxynaphthalene

2-OH-Phen:

2-Hydroxyphenanthrene

2-OH-Fluo:

2-Hydroxyfluorene

1-OH-Py:

1-Hydroxypyrene

6-OH-Chry:

6-Hydroxychrysene

3-OH-Fluo:

3-Hydroxyfluorene

1-OH-Phen:

1-Hydroxyphenanthrene

3-OH-Chry:

3-Hydroxychrysene

9-OH-BaP:

9-Hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene

3-OH-Phen-13C6 :

Isotopically labeled 3-hydroxyphenanthrene

6-OH-Chry-13C6 :

Isotopically labeled 6-hydroxychrysene

OSI-R:

Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised edition

ORQ:

Occupational Role Questionnaire

PSQ:

Personal Strain Questionnaire

PRQ:

Personal Resources Questionnaire

UPLC-MS/MS:

Ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

ESI:

electrospray ionization

MRM:

Multiple reactions monitoring

CV:

Coefficient of variation

LODs:

Limits of detection

Cr:

Creatinine

IQR:

Interquartile ranges

LMW:

Low molecular weight

HMW:

High molecular weight

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

npCBGPS:

Nonparametric covariate balancing generalized propensity score

BKMR:

Bayesian kernel machine regression

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC 81973093, 82073674) in funding this project. We also gratefully acknowledged funding support from the Open Fund from Key Laboratory of Cellular Physiology (Shanxi Medical University), Ministry of Education, China (No. KLMEC/SXMU-202004), and Shanxi “1331 Project” Key Subjects Construction (1331KSC).

Funding

This work received the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC 81973093, 82073674), the Open Fund from Key Laboratory of Cellular Physiology (Shanxi Medical University), Ministry of Education, China (No. KLMEC/SXMU-202004), and Shanxi “1331 Project” Key Subjects Construction (1331KSC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, 56 Xinjian South Road, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030001, People’s Republic of China

    Hongmei Zhang, Jingjing Cao, Aixiang Liu & Xiaoling Zhou

  2. Key Laboratory of Coal Environmental Pathogenicity and Prevention (Shanxi Medical University), Ministry of Education, 56 Xinjian South Road, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030001, People’s Republic of China

    Hongmei Zhang, Qian Gao, Jisheng Nie & Tong Wang

  3. Department of Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, 56 Xinjian South Road, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030001, People’s Republic of China

    Qian Gao & Tong Wang

  4. Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, 56 Xinjian South Road, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030001, People’s Republic of China

    Jisheng Nie

  5. Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Datong Coal Mining Group, Datong, 7 Xinpingwangwei 1 Ave, Datong, Shanxi, 037003, People’s Republic of China

    Jianjun Huang

  6. Department of Urology, General Hospital of Datong Coal Mining Group, 7 Xinpingwangwei 1 Ave, Datong, Shanxi, 037003, People’s Republic of China

    Chenming Sun

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  1. Hongmei Zhang
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Contributions

Hongmei Zhang: conceptualization and design, writing, reviewing, and editing.

Jingjing Cao, Aixiang Liu: sample preparation and measurement, data calculating.

Qian Gao: data curation, data processing, statistical analysis, and figures.

Jisheng Nie: measurement methodology and quality control.

Xiaoling Zhou: data input, data collation and verification, tables and figures.

Jianjun Huang and Chenming Sun: investigation, stress assessment.

Tong Wang: supervision, software, validation, design, and language polishing.

All authors have viewed and approved the final version of the manuscript being submitted.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tong Wang.

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Ethical Approval

The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shanxi Medical University (HX201201).

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All subjects provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

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All co-authors have reviewed and agreed with the contents of the manuscript, and no financial interest was declared.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Zhang, H., Cao, J., Liu, A. et al. Association of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolite concentration in urine and occupational stress in underground coal miners in China: propensity score and bayesian kernel machine regression. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 70315–70330 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27321-6

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