Urinary levels of PAH metabolites in pregnant women and their correlation with sociodemographic factors and PM2.5 exposure in an urban and a suburban area

• Published in: Air quality, atmosphere and health Vol. 14; no. 5; pp. 653 - 665
• Main Authors: Salami, Fahimeh, Hajizadeh, Yaghoub, Yadegarfar, Ghasem, Ebrahimpour, Karim, Pourzamani, Hamidreza, Poursafa, Parinaz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.05.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: 1-Hydroxypyrene; Air monitoring; Air pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Autumn; Cold season; Correlation; Creatinine; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Health; Environmental monitoring; Exposure; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Metabolites; Naphthol; Particulate matter; Pollution monitoring; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Pregnancy; Sociodemographics; Spring; Spring (season); Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Suburban areas; Urban areas; Pregnancy; PAHs; Air pollution; Biomonitoring; Metabolites; PM
• ISSN: 1873-9318; 1873-9326
• DOI: 10.1007/s11869-020-00969-6

Exposure to PAHs during pregnancy is associated with adverse birth outcomes. The objectives of this study were to determine the urinary levels of PAH metabolites in pregnant women and to evaluate their association with sociodemographic and lifestyle variables and exposure to atmospheric PM 2.5 . Subjects of 80 non-smoking pregnant women from three regions in an urban area (Isfahan city) and one region of suburb area (Mobarakeh town) were recruited to the study. The urine samples of women were collected during their first (spring) and third (autumn) trimester of pregnancy. Urinary PAHs’ metabolites including 1-naphthol (1-NAP), 2-naphthol (2-NAP), 9-phenanthrol (9-PHN), and 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) were analysed by a GC/MS after their extraction and derivatization. Ambient PM 2.5 data for the study period were collected from air pollution monitoring stations. The mean urinary concentrations of 1-NAP, 2-NAP, 9-PHN and 1-HOP in spring were 3.3, 2.2, 0.9 and 8.8 μg g −1 creatinine, and those in autumn accounted for 5.2, 3.0, 11.2 and 11.3 μg g −1 creatinine, respectively. Coincidently, the mean atmospheric PM 2.5 concentrations of 23.2 μg m −3 in spring and 37.3 μg m −3 in autumn were attained. The concentration of the metabolites in the urban area was higher than that in the suburban area in both seasons which was following the ambient levels of PM 2.5 . A significant positive correlation between the metabolites and ambient PM 2.5 was observed ( p value < 0.05). Although the socio-demographic factors affected the level of exposure, the difference was not statistically significant ( p value < 0.05). Residents of the urban area were exposed to a higher level of PAHs due to air pollution especially in the cold season.