| Biological Monitoring of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposure in a Highly Polluted Area of Poland Steinar Øvrebø,
1
Per Einar Fjeldstad,
2
Ewa Grzybowska,
3
Elin Hegland Kure,
1
Mieczyslaw Chorazy,
3
and Aage Haugen
1
1
Department of Toxicology and
2
Department of Occupational Hygiene, National Institute of Occupational Health, N-0033 Oslo, Norway;
3
Department of Tumor Biology, Institute of Oncology, PL44-100 Gliwice, Poland Abstract
Air pollution in Poland and particularly in Silesia is among the worst in Europe. Many coal mines and coke oven plants are located in this area, representing a major source of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) . We quantitated the PAH exposure level in air samples using personal sampling devices, collected urine samples from the same individuals, and measured 1-hydroxypyrene with high performance liquid chromatography. Samples were collected twice, once in February and once in September. Mean PAH level of samples collected at three different coke oven plants varied from 2.3 µg/m 3 to 12.3 µg/m 3 ; the lowest mean was in September. Mean levels of 0.15 µg/m 3 (September) and 0.44 µg/m 3 (February) were noted for the environmentally exposed group. Mean urinary 1-hydroxypyrene varied from 2.45 to 13.48 µmol/mol creatinine at the three coke oven plants. The corresponding variation between the three different environmentally exposed groups in Silesia was 0.41-1.54 µmol/mol creatinine. In the nonindustrialized area, the mean varied from 0.20 to 0.14 µmol/mol creatinine. Seasonal variation was found both at the coke oven plants and in the environmental exposed groups in Silesia. Both PAH levels and 1-hydroxypyrene varied seasonally among coke oven workers and the environmentally exposed group. Our study shows that PAH exposure in the industrialized area of Silesia is high compared to levels in Western Europe. 1-Hydroxypyrene excretion in environmentally exposed individuals in Poland is among the highest in Europe. Key words : air pollution, benzo[a]pyrene, biological monitoring, exposure monitoring, 1-hydroxypyrene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Environ Health Perspect 103:838-843 (1995)
Address correspondence to S. Øvrebø, Department of Toxicology, National Institute of Occupational Health, POB 8149 DEP, N-0033 Oslo, Norway. This study was supported by grants from the Norwegian State Pollution Control Authority and EU project EV5V-CT92-0213. The technical assistance of Kristin Halgard, Margrete Brendeford, and An Deverill is appreciated. The authors thank the staff of Kombinat Koksochemiczny "Zabrze" and E. Dubik, M. Kwiecien´, S. Lubos, M. Markov, H. Wojtynek, A. Konon, M. Stróz·yk, and J. Wiatrak for help during the collection of air and urine samples. This study was also supported by the Institute of Oncology (EC grant CIPA CT930041, KBN grant 6P20706405p01) . Received 6 April 1995 ; accepted 5 June 1995.
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