Urinary mutagenic activity in workers exposed to diesel exhaust

Journal Article · Wed Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · Environmental Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0013-9351(05)80074-X· OSTI ID:7206339

Schenker, M B; Samuels, S J; Kado, N Y ^[1]; Hammond, S K; Woskie, S R; Smith, T J ^[2]

---

1. Univ. of California, Davis (United States)
2. Univ. of Massachusetts, Worcester (United States)

The authors measured postshift urinary mutagenicity on a population of railroad workers with a range of diesel exhaust exposures. Postshift urinary mutagenicity was determined by a sensitive microsuspension procedure using Salmonella strain TA 98 {plus minus} S9. Number of cigarettes smoked on the study day and urinary cotinine were highly correlated with postshift urinary mutagenicity. Diesel exhaust exposure was measured over the work shift by constant-flow personal sampling pumps. The relative ranking of jobs by this adjusted respirable particle concentration (ARP) was correlated with relative contact the job groups have with operating diesel locomotives. After adjustment for cigarette smoking in multiple regressions, there was no independent association of diesel exhaust exposure, as estimated by ARP, with postshift urinary mutagenicity among smokers or nonsmokers. An important finding is the detection of baseline mutagenicity in most of the nonsmoking workers. Despite the use of individual measurements of diesel exhaust exposure, the absence of a significant association in this study may be due to the low levels of diesel exposure, the lack of a specific marker for diesel exhaust exposure, and/or urinary mutagenicity levels from diesel exposure below the limit of sensitivity for the mutagenicity assay.

• OSTI ID: 7206339
• Journal Information: Environmental Research; (United States), Journal Name: Environmental Research; (United States) Vol. 57:2; ISSN ENVRA; ISSN 0013-9351
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AEROSOLS
BACTERIA
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BIOLOGICAL WASTES
BODY FLUIDS
COLLOIDS
DIESEL ENGINES
DISPERSIONS
ENGINES
EXHAUST GASES
FLUIDS
GASEOUS WASTES
GASES
HEAT ENGINES
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
MATERIALS
METABOLISM
MICROORGANISMS
MUTAGEN SCREENING
PERSONNEL
RESIDUES
SALMONELLA
SCREENING
SMOKES
SOLS
TOBACCO SMOKES
URINE
WASTES