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Assessment of DNA Damage in WBCs of Workers Occupationally Exposed to Fumes and Aerosols of Bitumen

¹ Research Institute of Occupational Medicine (BGFA), Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany; ² Institute and Outpatient Clinic of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine of the University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany; ³ Tiefbau-Berufsgenossenschaft, Munich, Germany; and ⁴ Berufsgenossenschaftliches Institut für Arbeitsschutz (BGIA), Sankt Augustin, Germany

Requests for reprints: Boleslaw Marczynski, Research Institute of Occupational Medicine (BGFA), Ruhr-University of Bochum, Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany. Phone: 49-234-302-4601; Fax: 49-234-302-4610. E-mail: marczynski{at}bgfa.ruhr-uni-bochum.de

We conducted a cross-shift study with 66 bitumen-exposed mastic asphalt workers and 49 construction workers without exposure to bitumen. Exposure was assessed using personal monitoring of airborne bitumen exposure, urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), and the sum of 1-, 2 + 9–,3-,4-hydroxyphenanthrene (OHPH). Genotoxic effects in WBC were determined with nonspecific DNA adduct levels of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodGuo) and the formation of DNA strand breaks and alkali-labile sites. Concentration of fumes and aerosols of bitumen correlated significantly with the concentrations of 1-OHP and OHPH after shift (r_s = 0.27; P = 0.03 and r_s = 0.55; P < 0.0001, respectively). Bitumen-exposed workers had more DNA strand breaks than the reference group (P < 0.0001) at both time points and a significant correlation with 1-OHP and OHPH in the postshift urines (r_s = 0.32; P = 0.001 and r_s = 0.27; P = 0.004, respectively). Paradoxically, we measured higher levels of DNA strand breaks, although not significant, in both study groups before shift. 8-OxodGuo adduct levels did not correlate with DNA strand breaks. Further, 8-oxodGuo levels were associated neither with personal exposure to bitumen nor with urinary metabolite concentrations. Significantly more DNA adducts were observed after shift not only in bitumen-exposed workers but also in the reference group. Only low-exposed workers had significantly elevated 8-oxodGuo adduct levels before as well as after shift (P = 0.0002 and P = 0.02, respectively). Our results show that exposure to fumes and aerosols of bitumen may contribute to an increased DNA damage assessed with strand breaks. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(4):645–51)

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