Chemical markers of occupational exposure to teak wood dust

Tectona grandis L.f: A comprehensive review on its patents, chemical constituents, and biological activities

Tectona grandis L.f is a timber plant that is commonly referred to as teak. Its wide use as a medicine in the various indigenous systems makes it a plant of importance. A wide gamut of phytoconstituents like alkaloids, phenolic glycosides, steroids, etc. has been reported. A renewed interest in this plant has resulted in scientific investigations by various researchers towards the isolation and identification of active constituents along with scientific proof of its biological activities. The different parts of the plant have been scientifically evaluated for their antioxidant, antipyretic, analgesic, hypoglycemic, wound healing, cytotoxic, and many more biological activities. Documentation of this scientific knowledge is of importance to have consolidated precise information encompassing the various aspects of this plant, which could provide a base for future studies. This review is a compilation of the salient reports on these investigations concerning phytochemistry, the methods used to identify and quantify the constituents, the evaluation methods of the biological activity, toxicological studies, allergies and the patent/patent applications. This will further help researchers to find an area of the gap for future studies.

Assessment of exposure to oak wood dust using gallic acid as a chemical marker

OBJECTIVES

The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has classified oak dust as a human carcinogen (A1), based on increased sinus and nasal cancer rates among exposed workers. The aims of this study were to investigate the use of gallic acid (GA) as a chemical marker of occupational exposure to oak dusts, to develop a high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector method to quantify GA and to apply the method in the analysis of oak dust samples collected in several factories.

METHODS

A high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed to detect GA in oak wood dust. The method was tested in the field, and GA was extracted from inhalable oak wood dust collected using the Institute of Occupational Medicine inhalable dust sampler in the air of five woodworking plants where only oak wood is used.

RESULTS

A total of 57 samples with dust concentrations in the range of 0.27-11.14 mg/m(3) were collected. Five of these samples exceeded the Italian threshold limit value of 5 mg/m(3), and 30 samples exceeded the ACGIH TLV of 1 mg/m(3). The GA concentrations were in the range 0.02-4.18 µg/m(3). The total oak dust sampled was correlated with the GA content with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.95.

CONCLUSIONS

The GA in the tannic extracts of oak wood may be considered a good marker for this type of wood, and its concentration in wood dust sampled in the work environment is useful in assessing the true exposure to carcinogenic oak dust.