A study on employees' skin exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and health risk in a petrochemical industrial park [石化工业园员工 PAHs 的皮肤暴露及健康风险]

作者：Guo J.; Luo X.-J.^*; Guan K.-L.; Lv Y.-Z.; Zeng Y.-H.; Mai B.-X.

来源：China Environmental Science, 2022, 42(11): 5427-5435.

• health risk
• petrochemical employees
• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• skin exposure

In the study, skin wipe samples were collected from four typical skin parts (forehead, palm, forearm and shank) of 30 volunteers (15 men and 15 women), who work in a Petrochemical Industrial Park in Maoming City (a typical petrochemical city). The concentrations of 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (∑15 PAHs) in wiping samples were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and the human exposure doses through skin exposure and hand-mouth contact were calculated. The concentration of Σ15PAHs in skin samples ranged from 21 to 1.9×104ng/m2. The PAH concentrations exhibited significant differences among different skin parts (P<0.01) with the order of forehead > palm > forearm > shank. PAHs are mainly composed of 3~4rings. Although no statistical difference was observed in ∑15 PAHs between female and male, the daily dermal absorption doses of PAH (DADderm) was significantly higher in female [41ng/(kg?d)] than male [28ng/(kg?d)]. The hand-mouth exposure dose [0.34ng/(kg?d)] was negligible to compare with the dermal absorption dose [34ng/(kg?d)]. The bared skins contribute to 88% of dermal absorption dose. There was no obvious non-carcinogenic risk but risks of skin cancer were higher than the acceptable level (1×10-4) for 7% staff, indicating potential skin cancer risk.

• 单位
  有机地球化学国家重点实验室; 中国科学院大学