Newsagents’ daily personal exposures to benzo(a)pyrene in Genoa, Italy

• Published in: Atmospheric environment (1994) Vol. 37; no. 5; pp. 603 - 613
• Main Authors: Piccardo, Maria Teresa, Stella, Anna, Redaelli, Anna, Minoia, Claudio, Valerio, Federico
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2003; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Air. Soil. Water. Waste. Feeding; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical compounds (mineral, organic); Chemical, physic and infectious diseases; Environment. Living conditions; Fixed monitoring stations; Medical sciences; Occupational medicine; Passive smoke; Personal air samplings; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Seasonal variability; Italy; Europe; Seasonal variability; Fixed monitoring stations; Personal air samplings; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Passive smoke; Hydrocarbon; Newsboy problem; Tobacco smoking; Personal sampling; Urban area; Polycyclic aromatic compound; Occupational exposure; Urban atmosphere; Indicator; Persistent organic pollutant; Health and environment; Correlation analysis; Seasonal variation; Passive smoking; Air pollution; Sampling; Public health; Organic compounds
• ISSN: 1352-2310; 1873-2844
• DOI: 10.1016/S1352-2310(02)00922-6

Daily personal exposures to benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) of 31 newsagents working in Genoa, Italy, were evaluated throughout 1998 during two different seasonal periods (February–April and May–June). Exposures of smoker and non-smoker subjects were compared. The highest BaP exposures were those of smokers during the cold period (2.20±0.84 ng/m 3). During this same period, the BaP exposure for non-smoker subjects was 1.00±0.32 ng/m 3. Both smoker and non-smoker exposures showed a seasonal dependence, with the lowest values occurring in the warm period (smokers: 1.46±0.72 ng/m 3, non-smokers: 0.65±0.25 ng/m 3). Compared to the cold period, the warm period produced a nearly 35% reduction in BaP exposures in both smoker and non-smoker subjects. A linear correlation was observed between personal exposures and number of cigarettes smoked daily. An increase in average daily BaP exposure of 0.071±0.009 ng/m 3 for every cigarette, due to passive smoke, was calculated. Mean BaP concentrations calculated from fixed monitoring stations were nearly 40% higher than mean personal exposures of non-smoker newsagents.