SERUM POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS AMONG CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT ASTHMA: CORRELATION TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND DIETARY FACTORS
Journal Title: International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health - Year 2008, Vol 21, Issue 3
Abstract
[b]Background:[/b] Children from low-income families may be subject to high exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) which can lead to respiratory disorders. This study aims to establish methods for assessing total PAH exposure of asthmatic and non-asthmatic children from low-income families; to estimate serum PAH concentrations of these children, and to estimate the relative importance of the environmental pathways for PAH exposure. [b]Materials and Methods:[/b] A total of 75 (61 asthmatic, 14 non-asthmatic) Saudi children 15 years old and below were included to participate in this cross-sectional study. Each participant answered a generalized questionnaire with dietary questions. Serum PAH were measured using HPLC with UV detection. [b]Results: [/b]Serum naphthalene and pyrene were significantly elevated among asthmatic children (p-values = 0.007 and 0.01, respectively). Serum acenaphthylene, fluorine and 1,2-benzanthracene, on the other hand, were significantly higher among non-asthmatics (p-values = 0.001, 0.04 and 0.03, respectively). There was a significant correlation between the presence of a smoker in the family and serum concentrations of carbazole, pyrene, 1,2-benzanthracene and benzacephenanthrylene (R = 0.37, 0.45, 0.43, 0.33; p-values = 0.01, 0.0002, 0.003 and 0.025, respectively). Significant correlations were elicited between daily meat intake and serum levels of acenaphthylene, benzopyrene and 1,2-benzanthracene (R = 0.27, 0.27, 0.33; p-values = 0.02 and < 0.001, respectively).[b] Conclusion: [/b]Among the children, serum PAH were significantly correlated to meat intake as well as presence of smokers at home. Public health awareness should be enhanced by educating parents to take certain precautions at home, such as preventing indoor smoking and reducing the intake of grilled and smoked meat by children so as to decrease their exposure to carcinogenic PAH.
Authors and Affiliations
NASSER AL-DAGHRI
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP83192
- DOI 10.2478/v10001-008-0021-0
- Views 131
- Downloads 0
CONSEQUENCES OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION
This paper presents the history of research and the results of recent studies on the effects of sleep deprivation in animals and humans. Humans can bear several days of continuous sleeplessness, experiencing deterioratio...
AIR POLLUTION AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISITS FOR DEPRESSION IN EDMONTON, CANADA
[b]Objectives:[/b] Depression is a common cause of morbidity. Sufferers are very sensitive to many external factors. Emergency department (ED) visits for this condition can be associated with the concentration of ambient...
Energy expenditure for massage therapists during performing selected classical massage techniques
Objectives: The aim of the study is to evaluate the intensity of the effort and energy expenditure in the course of performing selected classical massage techniques and to assess the workload of a massage therapist durin...
Chemical incidents resulted in hazardous substances releases in the context of human health hazards
Objectives: The research purpose was to analyze data concerning chemical incidents in Poland collected in 1999–2009 in terms of health hazards. Material and Methods: The data was obtained, using multimodal information te...
Development and validation of the Polish version of Colquitt’s Organizational Justice Measure
Objectives: Organizational justice is an important predictor of employees’ well-being and job performance. Colquitt’s Organizational Justice Measure (OJM) was designed to assess four aspects of justice – distributive, pr...