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Background: Automobile exhaust related air pollution have become a major health hazard. Traffic police personnel, due to their continuous and prolonged exposure are likely to be the worst affected group in this regard. Many studies in the past have documented impaired respiratory function among traffic policemen. Studies from India, exploring the relationship between duration of exposure and respiratory function is necessary. Objective: To compare the pulmonary function parameters between controls and traffic police exposed to air pollutants for variable duration Materials and methods: The study was a community based analytical cross sectional study in Telangana state from August 2012 to November 2013. A total of 120 study participants, including 30 controls and 90 traffic police (30 in each of decadal age groups from 21 to 50 years) were studied. Lung functions were measured by Spirowin. FVC (L), FEV1 (L), FEV1 / FVC ratio, FEF 25 - 75 (L/Sec) and PEFR (L/Sec) were measured and compared. Results: The absolute and percentage predicted values of FEV1 were higher in control group, compared to traffic police and they have shown gradually decreasing trend with increasing age band which was statistically significant. The mean FVC value and percentage predicted was highest in 21 to 30 age group traffic police and showed gradually declining trend with increasing age band. The other pulmonary function parameters like FEV1/FVC, FEF 25-75 and PEFR have also shown gradually declining trend with increasing age group among traffic police. Conclusion: The traffic police had poor respiratory function, compared to general population, which declined with increasing age of the individual and increasing duration of exposure
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Objective To observe the effect of automobile exhaust pollutants in air of underground parking area on immune system of mice. Methods Thirty female Kunming mice were divided into a control(relatively clean) group and a polluted group(each n=15)by a random number table method. The control group was housed on the roof of a mechanical building located at the south campus of Sun Yat-sen University,while the polluted group was housed in the minus second layer of underground parking lot at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. The data of atmospheric pollutants were recorded at both feeding sites. The mice's food-intake and body weight were also observed. After 3 months of observation,the mice were sacrificed and peripheral serum was harvested. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was performed to detect the level of tumor necrotic factor-α(TNF-α),transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1)and interleukin-4(IL-4). Results The levels of air pollutants in pollution group were higher than those in control group〔carbonmonoxide(CO,mg/m3:16.784±3.093 vs. 2.249±0.112),nitrogen oxides(NOx, mg/m3:0.318±0.041 vs. 0.065±0.030)and particulate matter(PM2.5,mg/m3:0.309±0.051 vs. 0.055±0.013),all P<0.001〕. The amount of food intake and body weight of the polluted group were obviously lower than those of the control group〔food-intake:670 g vs. 960 g,body weight:(37.13±1.11)g vs.(41.23±1.34)g, both P<0.001〕. There was no abnormal death in both groups. The serum levels of TNF-α(ng/L:247.93±22.25 vs. 143.33±39.01), TFG-β1(ng/L:395.77±41.29 vs. 319.15±20.72) and IL-4(ng/L:231.89±20.04 vs. 194.09±3.57)were significantly higher in the mice of polluted group than those in the control group(all P<0.001). Conclusions The automobile exhaust pollutants in the air of underground parking lot have obvious effects on the levels of serum inflammatory cytokines of mice. It is suggested that the presence of pollutants activate the body's inflammatory process and lead to disturbance of immune system of female Kunming mice.
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Automobile exhaust derived air pollutants have become a major health hazard. Coupled with the inhalation of fuel vapour, as occurs in petrol station workers, this may lead to significant impairment of lung function. Spirometric lung functions were studied in 58 petrol station workers to examine this possibility. The forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced expiratory flow 25%–75% (FEF25-75) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were recorded and analysed separately for smokers and non-smokers. The workers were divided into 5 groups for analysis of data based on the number of years of work in the petrol pumps. Outdoor air analysis was also carried out. The FVC, FEV1 and PEF declined significantly with increasing years of work in petrol stations in both smokers and non-smokers. Smoking as an independent variable was found to affect the FEV1 significantly but not FVC or PEF. The FEF25-75 was found to be the most affected spirometric value with a significant reduction with increasing years of work. Smoking as such did not affect it. Oxides of nitrogen (NOx), suspended particulate matter (SPM) and particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10) in outdoor air were higher than the national ambient air quality standards. Exposure to automobile exhaust and fuel vapour impairs lung function in a timedependent manner. Cigarette smoking appears to accelerate the decline.
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Objective To know automobile exhaust pollution and population exposure to automobile exhaust in Taiyuan,and to provide the basis for controlling automobile exhaust pollution.Methods Two different automobile pollution areas(A and B) were selected as the monitoring sites,the continue sampling was carried out for one week from March to April in 2008.The concentration of PM2.5 was determined by mass method,the inorganic elements in PM2.5 were extracted by Soxhlet method, arsenic and mercury were measured by atomic fluorescent spectrophotometer(AFS),the other metal elements were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometer.The concentration of NO_x was detected by Saltzman method,the concentration of CO was measured by non-dispersive infrared absorption method.Results At crossroad A,daily average concentration of PM2.5 was 1.604 mg/m~3,which was significantly higher than that at crossroad B(0.64 rag/m~3),P
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Objective To study the effect of automobile exhaust pollution saturation of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) in traffic policemen. Methods 169 traffic policemen working outdoors were selected as a exposure group and 112 traffic policemen working indoors as control group in a traffic policemen detachment in Tangshan. Questionnaires and health examination were conducted in two groups. The carbon monoxide levels in the exhalation were measured in 281 traffic policemen by a micro_smokerlyzer and the corresponding saturation of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) were read. Results The higher saturation of carboxyhemoglobin were observed in exposure group (2.30%?1.49%) compared with those (1.71%?0.99%) in control group (P
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The progress of mainly experimental studies on the chronic toxicity test of the automobile exhaust-involving reproductive system impairment, chronic lung impairment and lung cancer in this paper, and the general situation and the progress on the latest domestic and foreign studies on the possiblely multiple mechanisms of automobile exhaust-induced chronic toxicity are introduced. Some epidemiological study results on the automobile exhausts-induced chronic impairments are reviewed, as well as some problems required to be explored further in the occupational risk assessment of exposure to automobile exhausts in recent years.
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The state of automobile exhaust pollution in the Kunming area was investigated. 113 traffic police and 105 official police were examined. The incidence of symptoms and diseases of the respiratory system and low pulmonary function was higher in the exposed group than in the control group. This shows that automobile exhaust has some effects on the health of people of special occupation.