Diesel Exposure in Mines: Biomarkers in Urine and Realtime Air Monitoring

Details

• Personal Author:
  Loo SM ; Sheppard EL ; Simpson CD ; Spear T ; Stephenson D
• Description:
  Elevated exposure to diesel exhaust (DE) is widespread and has been linked to a variety of adverse health outcomes. IARC recently classified DE as carcinogenic to humans. However, limitations in the specificity and reliability of metrics of DE exposure hamper quantitative evaluation of links between DE exposure and adverse health outcomes. Therefore, studies which improve our ability to reliably assess personal exposure to DE are critically required to understand the relationship between DE exposures and disease, and to support the setting of science-based exposure standards that adequately protect the health of workers. Underground miners experience amongst the highest exposures to DE of any occupation. Thus, miners are at high risk for suffering adverse health effects associated with DE exposure. The overall goal of the current project was to evaluate novel approaches for assessing the exposure of underground miners to DE. We recruited a cohort of 20 mine workers at a large underground metal mine employing about 1,300 employees. Area samples, personal air sampling and collection of urine samples pre-and post shift was performed over four work weeks during March, June, August and October in 2014. We evaluated associations between TC measured using an MSHA-approved DPM impactor and a variety of integrated and continuously monitored parameters. TC was strongly associated with EC in personal and area air samples. EC concentrations were substantially lower than those measured in the same mine in 2003, indicating that control strategies implemented by the mine to comply with the MSHA PEL have been effective. We found that NO2 and PM1, acquired in real-time, were positively correlated with TC - however the association was only moderate. Continuous-reading low costs sensors deployed at fixed locations throughout the mine yielded air contaminant measurements that reflected density of diesel vehicles in the proximity of the sensor. Regression analysis of 1-nitropyrene 1-NP vs. EC yields a 8.2% increase in geometric mean (GM) 1-NP for each 10% increase in GM EC (p<0.001), demonstrating that 1-NP concentration in air is a viable surrogate measure of diesel exhaust exposure. Associations between 1-NP and OC or TC were not found to be statistically significant, likely due to a large number of OC samples below the limit of detection. Location within the mine, fuel type, and cigarette use as examined in this study were not found to significantly affect the 1-NP/EC association. Of the measured urinary 1-NP metabolites 6-OHNP and 8-OHNP were detected at the highest levels (6-OHNP: GM = 0.13 pg/mg creatinine, GSD = 2.9 pg/mg creatinine; 8-OHNP: GM = 0.006 pg/mg creatinine, GSD = 2.8 pg/mg creatinine). A significant trend for increasing metabolite levels with day of work week was observed indicating that the timecourse of uptake and elimination of 1-NP is longer than the within-day variability in occupational exposure. Urinary concentrations of 6-OHNP and 8-OHNP were not associated with exposure measured on the day urine sample collection, but were associated with exposures aggregated over the four days prior to sample collection. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomarkers Carbon Dioxide Carcinogens Energy Metabolism Environmental Exposure Environmental Monitoring Hazardous Substances Mining Occupational Health Particulate Matter Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Urine Vehicle Emissions

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• Keywords:
  Air Monitoring Air Sampling Carbon Dioxide Diesel Emissions Diesel Exhausts Exposure Levels Health Effects Health Hazards Metabolites Metal Mining Miners Mining Equipment Mining Industry Monitoring Systems Particle Size Particulates Risk Factors Sampling Underground Miners Underground Mines Underground Mining Urinalysis

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• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  Idaho ; Montana ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-38
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20049718
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2017-102230
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R21-OH-010362, 2015 Nov; :1-38
• Contact Point Address:
  Christopher D Simpson, PhD, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
• Email:
  simpson1@u.washington.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon dioxide (CAS RN 124-38-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20130901
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20150831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:16fed7b64606b392b5ff5da23e0975b98b9a07268b96b81c4b57bf32ccd1c334871d4e4fdb4a99eb66b85f62b02d55562fbe0add12d56999f7406fd78fd9f8a0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/218661/cdc_218661_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.12 MB ]