Objective: To explore the association of urinary phenol concentration and blood biochemical indices in coke oven workers. Methods: From April to may 2019, we investigated 771 employing coke oven workers from a coke plant in Taiyuan city, and categorized into benzene-exposed group (n=402) and control group (n=369) based on their benzene exposures in workplace and urophenol concentrations. All subjects were interviewed face-to-face using a questionnaire including name, age (year) , gender, smoking and drinking habits, personal vocational history, working length (year) , and occupational protection, etc. Post-shift urine samples detected using a gas chromatography-hydrogen flame ionization detector. Fasting venous blood was drawn in the morning and centrifuged, the separated serum were detected the following items using an automatic blood biochemistry analyzer. Covariance and multiple linear regression were used to test the association of urinary phenol concentration and the levels of all the blood biochemical indices. Results: The subjects were predominantly males (n=719, 93.3%) , with an average age of (42.3±8.2) years and an average working length of (20.6±8.2) years. Compared with the control group, the benzene-exposed group were significantly different in age, working length of years, gender, smoking and drinking habits (P<0.05) . The median (interquartile interval) concentration of urinary phenol was 6.00 (0.00-33.00) μg/ml in the benzene-exposed group, which was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05) . Covariance analysis indicated that the fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol and high density cholesterol in the benzene-exposed group were significantly reduced compared with the control group, yet the serum creatinine, serum uric acid and triglyceride were significantly increased (P<0.05) . Multiple linear regression showed that, an increase of each natural logarithm (Ln) transformed urinary phenol concentration was significantly associated with increases in serum uric acid level [9.82 (95%CI: 2.18-17.47) μmol/L] and cholesterol level[0.10 (95%CI:0.00-0.20) mmol/L]. An increase of each Ln-transformed accumulated benzene exposure levels was significantly associated with an increase in total cholesterol level[0.09 (95%CI: 0.01-0.17) mmol/L]. Conclusion: Occupational benzene exposure is possibly related to the variation of purine and total cholesterol metabolism in coke oven workers.
目的： 探讨焦炉工人尿酚水平与血生化指标的关系。 方法： 于2018年4至5月，选取某焦化厂771名在岗工人为研究对象，按照是否从事苯及苯系物作业，分为苯接触组（402例）和对照组（369例）。采用自行设计的问卷调查研究对象的年龄、性别、吸烟饮酒习惯、职业史、个人疾病及家族遗传史等信息。用气相色谱-氢焰离子化检测器法检测尿酚浓度；用罗氏全自动血生化仪测定血生化指标。采用协方差和多元线性回归模型分析尿酚与血生化指标的关系。 结果： 771名研究对象中，男性719名（93.3%），平均年龄（42.3±8.2）岁，平均工龄（20.6±8.2）年。与对照组比较，苯接触组的年龄、工龄、性别、吸烟及饮酒习惯差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。苯接触组工人尿酚浓度为6.00（0.00，33.00）μg/ml，明显高于对照组（P<0.05）。与对照组比较，苯接触组工人的空腹血糖、总胆固醇、高密度胆固醇明显降低，血清肌酐、血清尿酸和甘油三酯均明显升高，差异均有统计学意义（P<0.05）。自然对数转化后的尿酚水平每增加一个单位，血尿酸和胆固醇水平分别增加9.82（96%CI：2.18~17.47）μmol/L、0.10（95%CI：0.00~0.20）mmol/L。对数转换后的苯累积暴露量每增加一个单位，总胆固醇水平增加0.09（95%CI：0.01~0.17）mmol/L。 结论： 职业性苯暴露可能与焦炉工人体内的嘌呤和总胆固醇代谢改变有关。.
Keywords: Benzene; Blood biochemistry indices; Cholesterol; Uric acid; Urinary phenol.