Occupational cancer in the United Kingdom

Determination of 3-Hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene Glucuronide/Sulfate Conjugates in Human Urine and Their Association with 8-Hydroxydeoxyguanosine

While 3-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene (3-OHBaP) is a preferable biomarker to assess human exposure to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a sensitive and simple method is lacking. In this study, a specific and sensitive method based on liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) was developed for direct analysis of 3-OHBaP glucuronide and sulfate conjugates in human urine samples without enzymatic hydrolysis. The limits of detection (LODs) were 0.06 ng L^-1 for BaP-3-sulfate (BaP-3-S) and 0.16 ng L^-1 for BaP-3-glucuronide (BaP-3-G), which showed high sensitivity. Both compounds showed excellent linearity (r² > 0.99) in the range of 0.01-10 μg L^-1 in the instrumental calibration. The absolute recoveries of the target analytes spiked in human urine for the entire analytical procedure were 68.3 ± 4.96% (mean ± SD) and 63.7 ± 5.47% for BaP-3-S and BaP-3-G, respectively. This method was applied to quantify BaP-3-G and BaP-3-S in 150 urine samples collected from healthy volunteers. The mean concentration of BaP-3-S was 0.67 ng g^-1 creatinine (<LOD to 10.20 ng g^-1 creatinine), about 10-fold lower than that of BaP-3-G (6.73 ng g^-1 creatinine, < LOD to 52.64 ng g^-1 creatinine). For comparison, we also detected the concentration of free 3-OHBaP in 15 randomly selected samples without enzymatic hydrolysis and found at least >98% of 3-OHBaP is excreted mainly in these two conjugated forms in human urine. A statistically significant positive association was observed between urinary 3-OHBaP conjugates and urinary 8-OHdG levels (p < 0.001) in the general population. This study developed a sensitive and simple method to determine urinary glucuronide/sulfate conjugated BaP metabolites and for the first time found that BaP exposure associated with 8-OHdG levels in the general population.

Self-reported work-related health problems from the Oslo Health Study

BACKGROUND

Lack of knowledge about the occurrence of work-related health problems in the general population makes it difficult to estimate the potential for their prevention in the workplace.

AIMS

To examine the prevalence of self-reported work-related health problems among adult citizens of Oslo, Norway.

METHODS

The study was part of the Oslo Health Study 2000-2001, in which all individuals in certain age cohorts were invited to a comprehensive health screening. All 30-, 40- and 45-year old subjects who attended the screening were asked if they had experienced any of 11 common health problems in the past month, and whether they considered these to be work-related. Of the 26,074 invitees in these age cohorts, 8,594 (33%) answered the questionnaire.

RESULTS

Nearly 60% of subjects reported one or more work-related health problems, most commonly reported were pain in the neck/shoulders (38%) and low back pain (23%). Neck/shoulder pain was most frequently attributed to working conditions, by 74% of subjects with this problem; followed by arm pain (72%), fatigue (51%) and low back pain (50%). Work-related fractions for eczema and asthma symptoms were 23 and 18%, respectively. There were marked gender differences, but small age differences.

CONCLUSIONS

A substantial proportion of common health problems in the Oslo population were attributed to working conditions. This implies a large preventive potential and call for increased preventive efforts targeted at known risk factors in the workplace.

Cancer prevention: a global perspective

This review will be restricted to measures aimed at primary prevention of cancer; reduction of the death rate through screening will not be covered. In many instances, cancer prevention is just one outcome of the benefits of good health practices, which may also benefit cardiovascular, lung, infectious, and metabolic diseases. Thus, reducing tobacco smoking will bring benefits in heart disease, neonatal and maternal health, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease as well as a variety of cancers, while dietary advice appropriate to cancer risk reduction will bring benefits in diabetes, stroke, kidney, and heart disease.

Mortality patterns by occupation in a cohort of electric utility workers

BACKGROUND

Mortality patterns were examined in a United States cohort of 138,905 male electric utility workers from five companies to help interpret previous studies of health effects in this industry.

METHODS

Using Poisson regression techniques, internal cohort analyses examined total mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in relation to duration of employment in each of nineteen occupational categories which comprise utility operations.

RESULTS

Relative to workers who were never involved in utility operations (e.g., administrative workers), mortality rate ratios among operations workers were higher for total mortality, cardiovascular disease, and total cancer. Lung cancer risk was consistently elevated, whereas increased mortality for other cancers was less consistent.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study indicate excess risk of total mortality, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers among electric utility workers, which could be related to both occupational and non-occupational risk factors.