DNA-ADDUCTS AND PERSONAL AIR MONITORING OF CARCINOGENIC POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY EXPOSED POPULATION

The effect of personal exposure to air pollution on DNA adducts in hum ans was analyzed in a group (n = 30) of women working outdoors (up to 8 h/day) as postal workers or gardeners in the city of Teplice, Czech Republic (Northern Bohemia), where winter inversions may result in hig h levels of air pollution from coal combustion, Ten of these women wer e followed up during the next winter season by repealed personal expos ure monitoring and analysis of the DNA adducts in their white blood ce lls (in four sampling periods), Personal exposure monitoring for respi rable particles (<2.5 mu m) was conducted for the 24 h period prior to collection of blood and urine, Particle extracts were analyzed for ca rcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), Urine samples were collected for cotinine analysis to control for exposure to tobacco smo ke, DNA isolated from white blood cells was analyzed by P-32-postlabel ing with the butanol enrichment procedure, There were 21 non-smokers a nd nine light smokers in the pilot study (November 1992) and only non- smokers in the follow-up study (winter season 1993/94), In both studie s high personal exposure variability between the individuals sampled o n the same day was observed, In the pilot study we found a significant ly higher (P < 0.05) level of DNA adducts in the 14 non-smoking women sampled on November 24, when their exposure to carcinogenic PAH was al so significantly higher (P < 0.05), compared with seven non-smoking wo men sampled on November 26, We also found a significant correlation (r = 0.541, P < 0.016) between individual exposure to carcinogenic PAH a nd DNA adducts for the group of non-smokers (n = 21), No significant d ifference in DNA adduct levels was found between non-smokers and smoke rs, In the follow-up study, during one sampling period the ambient and personal air monitors exhibited a significantly elevated exposure to respirable particles and carcinogenic PAH, Analyzing data from the fol low-up study, a significant effect of personal exposure on DNA adduct levels and their relationship with short-term exposure to carcinogenic PAH was found, The results suggest that DNA adduct levels in white bl ood cells reflect a short-term environmental exposure.