Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology ( IF 4.2 ) Pub Date : 2021-05-24 , DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2021.103675 Shuai Cheng 1 , Hui Zhang 1 , Pengpeng Wang 1 , Kaili Zou 1 , Xiaoran Duan 2 , Sihua Wang 3 , Yongli Yang 4 , Liuhua Shi 5 , Wei Wang 6
Objectives
The aim was to explore the dose-response relationship between occupational polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure and mitochondrial damage in coke oven plants workers.
Methods
544 workers and 238 healthy people were recruited. The ultra-high performance liquid chromatography was used to determine the level of 1-hydroxypyrene, 1-hydroxynaphthalene, 2-hydroxynaphthalene and 3-hydroxyphenanthrene. The real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn). The benchmark dose software was used to analyze the benchmark dose.
Results
The mtDNAcn in the exposure group was lower than that in the control group. The concentrations of 1-hydroxypyrene, 1-hydroxynaphthalene, 2-hydroxynaphthalene and 3-hydroxyphenanthrene in the exposure group were higher than those in the control group. There is a dose-response relationship between 1-hydroxypyrene, 3-hydroxyphenanthrene and mitochondrial DNA damage. The benchmark dose lower confidence limit (BMDL) of 1-hydroxypyrene were 0.045, 0.004, and 0.058 pg/μg creatinine in the total, male, and female population, respectively. The BMDL of 3-hydroxyphenanthrene were 5.142, 6.099, and 2.807 pg/μg creatinine in the total, male, and female population, respectively.
Conclusions
The BMDL of 1-hydroxypyrene and 3-hydroxyphenanthrene initially explored can provide a reference to establish occupational exposure biological limits.