Dermal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in asphalt workers

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Environmental Science
• Toxicology

Background:

• Asphalt workers face potential exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
• Assessing dermal exposure is crucial for understanding total body burden.
• PAHs are known carcinogens, necessitating exposure monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify dermal exposure to 16 PAHs in asphalt workers.
• To identify representative PAHs and body sites for exposure assessment.
• To integrate dermal exposure with environmental and biological monitoring data.

Main Methods:

• Polypropylene pads applied to six body sites for dermal PAH assessment.
• Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry used for PAH quantification.
• Airborne exposure, urinary PAHs, and metabolites were also measured.

Main Results:

• Phenanthrene (PHE) was the most abundant PAH, detected in all samples.
• The wrist showed the highest PAH contamination, particularly for PHE, pyrene (PYR), and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP).
• Dermal PHE correlated with airborne exposure and urinary metabolites; BaP correlated with higher ring PAHs.

Conclusions:

• Dermal PAH exposure levels were in the low ng/cm(2) range.
• PHE/PYR and BaP are representative compounds, and the wrist is the optimal site for dermal assessment.
• Both dermal and airborne routes contribute to total PAH body burden, with varying analyte-specific contributions.