Biomarkers of Low-Level Environmental Exposure to Benzene and Oxidative DNA Damage in Primary School Children in Sardinia, Italy

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Giovanna Spatari¹  Fabio De-Giorgio²  Federico Meloni³  Pierluigi Cocco³  Marcello Campagna³  Ilaria Pilia³  Daniele Fabbri³  Ernesto d’Aloja³  Gabriele Marcias³  Elena Grignani⁴  Danilo Cottica⁴  Claudio Cocheo⁴ 

[1] Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morpho-Functional Imaging, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy;Department of Health Care Surveillance and Bioethics, Section of Legal Medicine, Università Cattolica del S. Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, 092109 Monserrato (Cagliari), Italy;Environmental Research Centre, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri, 27100 Pavia, Italy;

关键词: benzene;    environmental exposure;    children;    biological monitoring;    genotoxicity;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph18094644

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Background: The main anthropic sources of exposure to airborne benzene include vehicular traffic, cigarette smoke, and industrial emissions. Methods: To detect early genotoxic effects of environmental exposure to benzene, we monitored environmental, personal, and indoor airborne benzene in children living in an urban area and an area near a petrochemical plant. We also used urinary benzene and S-phenylmercapturic acid (S-PMA) as biomarkers of benzene exposure and urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) as a biomarker of early genotoxic effects. Results: Although always below the European Union limit of 5 μg/m³, airborne benzene levels were more elevated in the indoor, outdoor, and personal samples from the industrial surroundings compared to the urban area (p = 0.026, p = 0.005, and p = 0.001, respectively). Children living in the surroundings of the petrochemical plant had urinary benzene values significantly higher than those from the urban area in both the morning and evening samples (p = 0.01 and p = 0.02, respectively). Results of multiple regression modelling showed that age was a significant predictor of 8-OHdG excretion, independent of the sampling hour. Moreover, at the low exposure level experienced by the children participating in this study, neither personal or indoor airborne benzene level, nor personal monitoring data, affected 8-OHdG excretion. Conclusions: Our results suggest the importance of biological monitoring of low-level environmental exposure and its relation to risk of genotoxic effects among children.

【 授权许可】

Unknown