Exposure to PAH in asphalt road pavers by environmental and biological monitoring

In the present study we assessed exposure to PAH in 100 road pavers exposed to bitumen fumes and diesel exhausts in Italy, by means of environmental and biological monitoring. 1-Hydroxypyrene (HO-Py) was determined in 3 urine spot samples collected respectively after two days of vacation (baseline, BL), at the beginning (BS) and at the end (ES) of the monitored workshift, in the second part of the workweek. Median airborne levels during the workshift of sixteen PAH (both vapour and particulate phases), from naphtalene to indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, ranged from 426 to below 0.03 ng/m3. Excretion of HO-Py was 228, 402 and 690 ng/l at BL, BS and ES, with higher values in smokers compared to non-smokers (e.g. 565 and 781 vs. 252 and 506 ng/l in BS and ES, respectively). In all subjects a very weak correlation between personal exposure to airborne Σ16PAH and OH-Py was observed by the exclusion of smokers, a higher correlation coefficient was obtained. The results of this study show that asphalt road pavers experienced a moderate occupational exposure to airborne PAH, resulting in a significant increase of urinary OH-Py during the workweek. The contribution of working activities to internal dose seems to be in the same order of magnitude of the contribution of cigarette smoking.