4.8 Article

Parent and Halogenated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Serum of Coal-Fired Power Plant Workers: Levels, Sex Differences, Accumulation Trends, and Risks

Journal

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Volume 56, Issue 17, Pages 12431-12439

Publisher

AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c03099

Keywords

halogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HPAHs); human serum; coal-fired power plant workers; exposure risk; occupational exposure

Funding

  1. National Natural Science Foundation of China [22193052, 22076215]
  2. Eco-Environmental Excellent Innovation Projects of the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences [RCEES-EEI-2019-01]
  3. Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences [XDPB2002]

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This study is the first report on HPAH exposure in coal-fired power plant workers and provides new evidence on the health risks of PAHs and HPAHs in humans.
Workers in coal-fired power plants are at a high risk of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their halogenated derivatives (HPAHs), yet no studies have investigated such exposure of HPAHs. In this study, 12 PAHs and 8 chlorinated PAHs, but no brominated PAHs, were detected in > 80% of serum samples from workers of a coal-fired power plant in eastern China. Serum HPAH concentrations were higher in plant workers (16- 273 ng/g lipid) than in people without occupational exposure (12-51 ng/g lipid), and serum PAH and HPAH concentrations both in male and female workers were positively correlated with the occupational exposure duration, with an estimated doubling time of 11-17 years. Correlations were found between concentrations of sigma 8HPAHs and sigma 12PAHs but not between 7chlorobenz[a]anthracene (7-ClBaA) and 1-chloropyrene (1-ClPyr) and their respective parent PAHs. In males, total concentrations of PAHs and HPAHs were positively correlated with pulmonary hypofunction and hypertension but not with abnormal electrocardiogram. The benzo[a]pyrene equivalents ratio of sigma 8HPAHs/sigma 12PAHs was 0.3 +/- 0.1. Among the HPAHs in the serum, 9-chlorophenanthrene, 7-ClBaA, and 1-ClPyr showed high health risks. This study is the first report on HPAH exposure in coal-fired power plant workers and provides new evidence on the health risks of PAHs and HPAHs in humans.

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