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BACKGROUND: Boilermakers are occupationally exposed to known carcinogens. METHODS: The association of urinary 1-hydroxy-pyrene (1-OHP), a biomarker of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure, with biomarkers of metal exposure (vanadium, chromium, manganese, nickel, copper, and lead) in boilermakers exposed to metal fume from welding and dust particulates from residual oil fly ash (ROFA) was examined. A repeated measures cohort study was conducted during the overhaul of an oil-fired boiler. Twice-daily urine samples were obtained for 5 days and analyzed for cotinine, 1-OHP, and metals. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to model the multivariate relationship of 1-OHP to the explanatory variables. RESULTS: Metal and 1-OHP levels were determined for 165 urine samples from 20 boilermakers and these levels increased during the workweek. However, the 1-OHP level was not significantly associated with any individual metal level at any time point. CONCLUSION: This suggests that boilermakers were occupationally exposed to PAH and metals, but 1-OHP as a PAH biomarker was unable to serve as a surrogate marker of metal exposure for the metals measured in this study.

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After decades of neglect, the resurgence of tuberculosis in the United States between 1985 and 1992 renewed interest in the use of upper room ultraviolet germicidal irradiation to interrupt the transmission of airborne infections. More recently the bioterrorism threat and the appearance of new pathogens with the potential for airborne spread, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), have stimulated installations of upper-room irradiation systems. The objective is to flood the entire volume of a room above 6.5 ft with high intensity ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, while minimizing unintentional irradiance below 6.5 ft to avoid eye and skin irritation. Air exchanges between the upper and lower room result in air disinfection of the occupied space. Designers of these systems have adopted the practice of limiting the maximum lower room irradiance at every point to less than the continuous 8-hour time-weighted average threshold limit value, severely limiting the irradiation intensity in the upper room and thereby reducing one of the two major factors determining germicidal effectiveness, the other being room air mixing. The hypothesis of this study is that eye and skin exposure will be well below the recommended safe dose even when maximum eye-level irradiance levels in the room exceed the 8-hour continuous exposure threshold limit. The method employed was to have subjects wear a small photometer that recorded total ultraviolet dose over the period of exposure while subjects went about their normal routine, and comparing this value with a hypothetical dose calculated from the highest measured eye-level irradiance. The results of the study, based on a limited number of observations, confirmed the hypothesis. Observed doses were one-third to a factor of a hundred or more lower than the doses calculated from maximum eye-level irradiances measurements in the occupants' spaces.

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Road pavers are exposed to asphalt fumes through dermal contact, inhalation, or ingestion. These fumes contain polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs), a class of compounds including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The PAHs include compounds such as pyrene and benzo(a)pyrene and a large number of other compounds of known or suspected carcinogenicity. To estimate dermal deposition of asphalt fume particulate matter, polypropylene sampling patches can be worn on a worker's inside wrist. Diesel fuel used for cleaning can splash onto the dermal sampler. Exposed dermal patches were solvent extracted and PACs estimated in the extract using a modification of NIOSH Method 5800. The final solution was analyzed by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a fluorescence detector using an excitation wavelength of 270 nanometers and an emission wavelength of 415 nanometers. The PACs were concentrated on a C-18 reverse phase guard column but not separated so that they could be measured expediently as a group. In this study we examined whether deposited diesel fuel interferes with the HPLC determination of PACs. We characterized the effect of diesel fuel contamination over broad ranges of both analyte and interferent. Two drops, or approximately 100 microL, of diesel fuel on the dermal samplers caused an overestimation of the concentration of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs). In the range of PACs determined in our field study (0 to 54 microg per sample), these errors could have exceeded 100%. Because 100 microL of deposited diesel fuel produced a clear visual "wetness," this observation can serve as one of the criteria for sample rejection. Sampling media must be examined carefully for visible contamination to prevent bias in the measurement of PACs deposited from asphalt fume.

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A repeated measures short-term prospective study was performed in boilermakers to determine occupational polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure using the biomarker, 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP). Two work sites were studied; an apprentice school (metal fume exposure) and a boiler overhaul (residual oil fly ash [ROFA] and metal fume exposure). Pre- and postshift urine samples (n = 241; 41 male subjects) were analyzed for cotinine and 1-OHP. Descriptive statistics and generalized estimating equations were calculated. At the apprentice school cross-shift 1-OHP levels did not significantly differ. At the overhaul 1-OHP levels increased during the week in smokers and nonsmokers; in nonsmokers the 1-OHP level increased significantly postshift compared to preshift. In conclusion this study suggests that boilermakers exposed to occupational particulates are exposed to PAH. The urinary 1-OHP level may be a useful biomarker of PAH exposure in boilermakers exposed to ROFA, particularly in nonsmokers.

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Measurements of residual perchloroethylene (PCE), a dry-cleaning solvent associated with human health effects, were made in dry-cleaned acetate cloth to enable improved characterizations of both occupational and environmental exposure. A limited sample size (25 acetate cloths) was used to explore the extent of inter-dry-cleaner variability in residual PCE and to characterize the effect of the pressing operation on residual PCE. A new method, which uses carbon-disulfide as the direct extracting agent, proved effective in the analysis of residual PCE, with a recovery-efficiency ≈ 75%. Inter-dry-cleaner variability of residual PCE, although marginally statistically significant, was relatively low, showing only a fourfold range compared to a 5-order-of-magnitude range obtained from Kawauchi and Nishiyama1. Pairwise comparison of residual PCE in nonpressed versus pressed acetate samples revealed a statistically significant reduction (p < 0.008), which amounted to a consistent (among dry-cleaners) pressing-related removal efficiency of 75 ± 4%. A preliminary assessment of the source term associated with the pressing operation (mass PCE liberated per kg cloth dry-cleaned, SPCE ≈ 30 mg/kg) indicates a minor contribution to the average ambient air concentrations within dry-cleaning establishments.