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Association of environmental exposure with hematological and oxidative stress alteration in gasoline station attendants

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Abstract

Gasoline station attendants spend a great deal of their time in the direct exposure to noxious substances such as benzene and byproducts of gasoline combustion. Such occupational exposure increases the risk of oxidative stress. This study aimed to evaluate hematological and biochemical alterations among petrol station workers. Forty gas station attendants and 39 non-attendants were recruited as exposed and control subjects, respectively. Plasma samples were evaluated for hemoglobin, hematocrit, and red blood cell count via the Sysmex KX-21 analyzer. Then, oxidized hemoglobin, methemoglobin, and hemichrome were measured spectrophotometrically. Moreover, serum antioxidant capacity and protein oxidation were evaluated. The means ± SD of hemoglobin (16.76 ± 0.14 g/dl vs 15.25 ± 0.14 g/dl), hematocrit (49.11 ± 0.36% vs 45.37 ± 0.31%), RBC count (5.85 ± 0.06 mil/μl vs 5.33 ± 0.06 mil/μl), Met-HB (1.07 ± 0.07 g/dl vs 0.39 ± 0.04 g/dl), and hemichrome (0.80 ± 0.07 g/dl vs 0.37 ± 0.02 g/dl) in the exposed group were significantly greater than the control group (P < 0.001). The results of the independent-sample t test illustrated that the FRAP test value in the exposed group (0.23 ± 0.01 mM) was significantly lower than the control group (0.34 ± 0.01 mM), while the value of the plasma protein carbonyl test in the exposed group (7.47 ± 0.33 mmol/mg protein) was meaningfully greater than the control group (5.81 ± 0.19 mmol/mg protein) (P < 0.001). In conclusion, gas station attendants suffer from higher levels of oxidative stress, and they need to take antioxidants in order to minimize the effects of oxidative stress.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Kerman University of Medical Sciences for the financial support (Grant No. 97000408) and use of laboratory facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Zahed Ahmadi

  2. Hematology and blood banking, arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran

    Alireza Moradabadi

  3. Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Danial Abdollahdokht & Mohammad Hadi Nematollahi

  4. Physiology Research Center, Institute of Basic and Clinical Physiology Sciences, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Mehrnaz Mehrabani

  5. Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Mohammad Hadi Nematollahi

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  1. Zahed Ahmadi
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  2. Alireza Moradabadi
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  4. Mehrnaz Mehrabani
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Correspondence to Mohammad Hadi Nematollahi.

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The protocol of the present case-controlled study was approved by the ethics committee of Kerman University of Medical Sciences(IR.KMU.REC.1397.377), Kerman, Iran, and regarding the declaration of Helsinki, all the individuals provided written informed consent before study entry.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Ahmadi, Z., Moradabadi, A., Abdollahdokht, D. et al. Association of environmental exposure with hematological and oxidative stress alteration in gasoline station attendants. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 20411–20417 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05412-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05412-7

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