Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure and burden of outdoor workers in Budapest

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure (PAHs: (benz[a]anthracene, benzo[ a]pyrene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene , indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, fluoranthene, chrysene, pyrene) of policemen on s treet duty in downtown Budapest and workers repairing the road (asphalting) at a traffic junction and their excretion of PAH metabolites (1-hydroxypyr ene, 3-hydroxybenz[a]anthracene, and 3-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene) were determin ed. As controls, health-care workers were investigated. In addition PAH pol lution of the air of a factory processing asphalt was also measured. The me asurements were performed on air samples gained using personal samplers and from urine of end-shift samples using a high-performance liquid chromatogr aphy method. It was found that PAH pollution of the most crowded and busy c enter of Budapest was similar to that of several other cities in the world. PAH exposure of road builders was actually not higher than that of policem en; the slight difference resulted from diverging life-styles. PAH metaboli te excretion of smoking health-care workers, road builders, or policemen si gnificantly exceeded that of the nonsmokers. The PAH metabolite values of t he three groups engaged in various activities did not show any difference. It was concluded that cancer-related risk due to PAH compounds in the case of policemen on street duty and road builders (asphalting) does not exceed significantly that of workers not exposed occupationally to PAHs in the amb ient air, but that smoking is a decisive factor.