Nitro-PAH exposures of occupationally-exposed traffic workers and associated urinary 1-nitropyrene metabolite concentrations

The assessment of occupational exposure to diesel exhaust (DE) is important from an epidemiological perspective. Urinary biomarkers of exposure have been proposed as a novel approach for measuring exposure to DE. In this study, we measured the concentrations of two urinary metabolites of 1-nitropyrene (1NP), a nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that has been suggested as a molecular marker of diesel particulate matter. These two metabolites, 6-hydroxy-1-nitropyrene and 8-hydroxy-1-nitropyrene, were determined in urine samples (10 mL) from a small group of workers who were occupationally-exposed to vehicle exhaust in Trujillo, Peru, before and after their workshifts. Workshift exposures to 1NP, as well as PM_2.5, 2-nitropyrene and 2-nitrofluoranthene, were also measured. Exposures to 1NP were similar in all studied workers, averaging 105 ± 57.9 pg/m³ (± standard deviation). Median urinary concentrations of the average of the pre- and post-exposure samples for 6-hydroxy-1-nitropyrene and 8-hydroxy-1-nitropyrene, were found to be 3.9 and 2.3 pg metabolite/mg creatinine, respectively in the group of occupationally-exposed subjects (n = 17) studied. A direct relationship between workshift exposure to 1NP and urinary 1NP metabolites concentrations was not observed. However, the 1NP exposures and the creatinine-corrected urinary concentrations of the hydroxynitropyrene metabolites in these Peruvian traffic workers were similar to occupationally-exposed taxi drivers in Shenyang, China, and were higher than biomarker levels in office workers from Trujillo without occupational exposure to vehicle exhaust. This study provides further evidence that urinary metabolites of 1NP are associated with exposure to DE and may serve as a useful exposure biomarker.