This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Potula, V. Articles by Hu, H. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Potula, V. Articles by Hu, H. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Relationship of Hemoglobin To Occupational Exposure To Motor Vehicle Exhaust

Quality Control Laboratory Nuclear Fuel Complex (Bhabba Atomic Research Center) Hyderabad, India, Forensic Sciences Department Madras, India, Occupational Health Program Department of Environmental Health Harvard School of Public Health Boston, Massachusetts

Howard Hu

Channing Laboratory Department of Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts

Objective: To study the relationship of hemoglobin to exposure to motor vehicle exhaust. Design: Survey. Participants: Traffic police, bus drivers, and auto-shop workers (all exposed to auto exhaust in Madras, India) and unexposed office workers. Main Outcome Measures: We measured levels of blood lead (by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry), and hemoglobin. Information also was collected on age, employment duration, smoking status, alcohol ingestion, and diet type (vegetarian or nonvegetarian). Results: Increasing exposure to motor vehicle exhaust, as reflected by job category, was significantly associated with lower levels of hemoglobin (p < 0.01). A final multivariate regression model was constructed that began with indicator variables for each job (with office workers as the reference category) and included age, duration of employment, blood lead level, alcohol ingestion, dietary type, and smoking status. After a backward- elimination procedure, employment duration as an auto-shop worker or bus driver remained as significant correlates of lower hemoglobin level and current smoking and long employment duration as significant correlates of higher hemoglobin level. Conclusions: Occupational exposure to automobile exhaust may be a risk factor for decreased hemoglobin level in Madras. This effect appears to be independent of blood lead level and may represent hematopoietic suppression incurred by benzene or accumulated lead burden (which is not well reflected by blood lead levels). Smoking probably increased hemoglobin level through the chronic effects of exposure to carbon monoxide. In this study, a long employment duration may have served as a proxy for better socioeconomic, and therefore, better nutritional status.

Key Words: 2. Key words: benzene • exhaust • hemoglobin • lead • motor • occupational.

Toxicology and Industrial Health, Vol. 12, No. 5, 629-637 (1996)
DOI: 10.1177/074823379601200503


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Kuruvilla, V.V. Pillay, P. Adhikari, T. Venkatesh, M. Chakrapani, H.T. Jayaprakash Rao, B. K. Bastia, A. Rajeev, K.M. Saralaya, and M. Rai Clinical manifestations of lead workers of Mangalore, India Toxicology and Industrial Health, October 1, 2006; 22(9): 405 - 413. [Abstract] [PDF]