Markers of exposure to diesel exhaust and cigarette smoke in railroad workers

Diesel exhaust is a complex mixture of combustion gases, vapors and particles, and personal exposure can be estimated indirectly only. Quantitative estimates of exposure were developed for thirteen job groups in a large epidemiologic study of mortality among railroad workers. Three possible markers of exhaust exposure were developed. The first index was the concentration of respirable particles because this was simple and inexpensive to measure precisely. Major positive interference, however, was found from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and inorganic respirable particles from other emission sources. Composited job group samples were analyzed for particulate nicotine so the ETS component could be subtracted from the respirable particle concentration. This produced a second exposure index, the adjusted respirable particle concentrations. Since there are nondiesel sources of particles in some work areas, a third marker was sought. Diesel exhaust particles have a relatively high content of dichloromethane extractable matter, but inorganic particles have a low extractable content. Therefore, the air concentration of extractable mass was used as a third marker of diesel exposures. The extractable matter also was corrected for the contribution of ETS. The advantages and limitations of these three markers are of interest. In general, considerable caution should be used in the development and application of markers; their use requires detailed knowledge of the nature and sources of exposure in a given setting.