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Exposure to BTEX in beauty salons: biomonitoring, urinary excretion, clinical symptoms, and health risk assessments

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Abstract

Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) concentrations were measured in beauty salons (BS) and in the urine of the beauty practitioners and a control group. Indoor and outdoor concentrations of BTEX were measured in 36 randomly selected salons. Before- and after-shift urinary BTEX were measured from one female non-smoker employee in each salon, and repeated three times. Clinical symptoms in that beautician were assessed by a physician. Thirty-six unexposed women were included as the control group. Cancer and non-cancer risks of exposure were assessed using deterministic and stochastic methods. Average indoor concentrations of BTEX were higher than those in the ambient air. Urinary BTEX concentrations in the beauty practitioners were significantly higher than in the control group. Linear regression showed that 77% of urinary benzene and toluene variations can be explained by their airborne concentrations. A positive significant relationship was found between age and urinary BTEX concentrations. Although the BTEX cancer and non-cancer risks were not significant, BTEX led to irritation of the eyes, throat, lung, and nose. In addition, toluene caused menstrual disorders among beauty practitioners. These results suggest that it is essential to decrease the exposure of beauty practitioners to BTEX compounds.

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Funding

This study was has supported by grant numbers#10856 from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mahbobeh Moradi, Akbar Eslami, Baharan Emam & Abbas Shahsavani

  2. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA

    Philip Hopke

  3. Research Center for Environmental Determinants of Health (RCEDH), Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

    Mostafa Hadei

  4. Center for Air Pollution Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Noushin Rastkari

  5. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran

    Zohreh Naghdali

  6. Research Center for Environmental Health Technology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Majid Kermani

  7. Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran

    Mohsen Farhadi

  8. Environmental and Occupational Hazards Control Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Abbas Shahsavani

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  1. Mahbobeh Moradi
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  2. Philip Hopke
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  10. Abbas Shahsavani
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Correspondence to Abbas Shahsavani.

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Moradi, M., Hopke, P., Hadei, M. et al. Exposure to BTEX in beauty salons: biomonitoring, urinary excretion, clinical symptoms, and health risk assessments. Environ Monit Assess 191, 286 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7455-7

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