Biological monitoring of environmental exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in subjects living in the area of recycling electronic garbage, in Southern China

The study was undertaken to evaluate the environmental exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in subjects living in the area of recycling electronic garbage in Southern China and research the influence of environment smoke tobacco (EST) to people through active and passive smoking. Urinary concentrations of 2-hydroxynaphthalene, 2-hydoxyfluorene, 9-hydroxyphenanthrene, and 1-hydroxypyrene were determined in 141 randomly selected voluntary residents aged 13 to 81 years in two polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-exposed groups, two control groups, and an EST research group. The concentrations of 2-hydroxynaphthalene, 2-hydoxyfluorene, 9-hydroxyphenanthrene, and 1-hydroxypyrene in PAH-exposed groups are significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those of control groups. Mean value of 1-hydroxypyrene in the residents living in the area of recycling electronic garbage (1.1 mu mol/mol creatinine) is a little higher than those of iron foundry workers, automobile repair workers, and firefighters. Mean value of 2-hydroxynaphthalene (11.3 mu mol/mol creatinine) is much higher than that of shipyard and aircraft maintenance and much lower than some occupational exposure, such as coking batteries, sorting department, and distillation department in coking plant. Some metabolites of PAHs (PAHm) are significantly elevated through active and passive smoking, while the influence of EST to other PAHm is not statistically significant. 2-Hydroxynaphthalene, 2-hydoxyfluorene, 9-hydroxyphenanthrene, and 1-hydroxypyrene in the urine of smokers are, respectively, 3.9, 1.9, 1.4, and 1.9 times to those of nonsmokers. In nonsmokers, passive smokers excreted 1.1, 1.5, 1.9, and 1.5 times of 2-hydroxynaphthalene, 2-hydoxyfluorene, 9-hydroxyphenanthrene, and 1-hydroxypyrene compared to nonpassive smokers.