Determination of carbon monoxide in blood by means of microdiffusion.

There was developed a little-work-consuming and non-expensive microdiffusion method of carboxyhaemoglobin determination in blood, in low range concentration. It can be used in the assessment of passive smokers' exposure to carbon monoxide. The amount of blood necessary for the determination was 0.15 ml. An average precision of the developed method of the carbon monoxide determination (converting into HbCO) for the concentration ranged from 1 to 5%, from 3 to 12% and from 5 to 20% was respectively 5.96, 4.09 and 2.14.

[The effect of smoking on environmental exposure to carbon of inhabitants in highly and little industrially developed areas]. / Wplyw palenia papierosów na ksztaltowanie sie narazenia srodowiskowego na tlenek wegla mieszkanców terenów silnie i slabo uprzemyslowionych.

The aim of the work was an estimation of the effect of smoking on environmental exposure to CO people living in industrial area of Sosnowiec (a city situated in Upper Silesia) and Tomaszów Lubelski (not much industrially town situated at the border of Roztocze National Park). The investigated material was vein blood of 102 blood donors from Sosnowiec and 103 blood donors from Tomaszów Lubelski both smokers and non-smokers. The level of CO exposure was estimated by determination of carbon monoxide haemoglobin (HbCO) concentration in blood by Wolf's method in Antczak's adaptation. It was stated that average HbCO concentration at non-smokers from Sosnowiec (2.09%) was about 0.9% higher than the one at non-smokers from Tomaszów Lubelski (1.17%). An increase of HbCO concentration in blood of non-smokers from Sosnowiec as compared with non-smokers from Tomaszów Lubelski included also 50 and 90 percentile. In relation to 50 percentile it was 2.05 and 1.0% and in relation to 90 percentile 2.4 and 3.7% respectively. The influence of external environment on CO exposure at smokers was estimated on the base of HbCO determination in blood before starting smoking. It was 2.77 at smokers from Sosnowiec and 1.41% at smokers from Tomaszów Lubelski. Analysing the effect of smoking on smokers exposure to CO it was stated that HbCO concentration in blood in both groups increased linearly with the increase of the number of smoked cigarettes, and average increase per one cigarette was 0.43% for smokers from Sosnowiec and 0.57% for smokers from Tomaszów Lubelski. On the base of the obtained results the following conclusions were drawn: 1. industrial and communal environment contamination with carbon monoxide influences considerably the exposure of both smokers and non-smokers. 2. smoking effects significantly more the exposure of people (smokers) to carbon monoxide than environmental pollution in the investigated industrial area. 3. the exposure to carbon monoxide at smokers up with the environmental exposure.

[Content of volatile in steam phenols in the main stream of cigarette smoke from selected brands of cigarettes]. / Zawartosc fenoli lotnych z para wodna w glównym strumieniu dymu wybranych gatunków papierosów.

Phenols constitute an important toxic component of the main stream (MS) of cigarette smoke. The content of volatile fraction of that group of compounds in MS depends on the tobacco type and conditions in which cigarettes are smoked, as well as on the filters applied. The purpose of the research was to determine the content of volatile in steam phenols in the MS of selected brands of cigarettes produces in Poland, as well as imported ones, and the assessment of the toxicity of doses of the phenols that smokers were exposed to. Cigarettes conditioned in constant humidity were smoked in standard conditions in the simulator of smoking, designed by the authors, while MS was absorbed in Zaitcev washers, filled with methanol. The absorbed phenols were distilled in steam and extracted with ethyl acetate. Then the phenols were separated by the method of overpressure thin-layer chromatography on DC Alufolien Polyamid 11F254 Merck chromatoplates, in the developing system chloroform-methanol 99:1 v/v, were induced with sodium diazofluoroborate, and after eultuion the separated phenol, and o-cresol were determined, as well as the non-separated mixture of p- and m-cresols, by the spectrophotometric method. The determined contents of phenols in MS were assessed regarding their toxicity applying the criteria of environmental exposure. When calculating the results, the efficiencies of the applied in the analytical procedures processes of absorption, distillation and extraction of the investigated phenols previously determined experimentally, were taken into consideration. The content of determined compounds in the brands of the cigarettes examined was in the case of phenols, changing within the range from 41.25 +/- 1.15 to 7.60 +/- 0.93 (the average of 20.31 +/- 9.61 micrograms per cigarette); in the case oo-cresol it was within the range from 28.16 +/- 0.95 to 5.72 +/- 0.53 (the average of 11.56 +/- 6.7), while for the non-separated p- and m-cresols the range was from 21.12 +/- 0.5 to 7.31 +/- 0.45 (the average amounted to 11.48 +/- 4.98 micrograms per cigarette The conclusions of the study were the brands of cigarettes significantly influences the content of the phenols examined in the cigarette smoke the phenols determined coexist in the MS of examined cigarettes in similar proportions the doses of phenols inhaled by a smoker during a day with the MS of examined brands of cigarettes participate essentially in the toxicity of the cigarette smoke and smoking 20 cigarettes a day causes the smoker's organism to be exposed to incomparably larger doses of phenols than those from unpolluted atmospheric air.

[Exposure of smokers to phenols in cigarette smoke depending on the conditions of smoking]. / Narazenie palaczy na fenole w dymie papierosowym w zaleznosci od warunków palenia.

It was examined the influence of differentiated conditions of cigarette smoking, i.e. time (1, 2 and 3 s) and speed (12, 17.5 and 23 cm3/s) of inhalation as well as length of breaks between inhalations (15, 20 and 30 s) on the content of volatile in steam phenols in the main stream of cigarette smoke. The cigarettes "Ekstra Mocne z filtrem" were examined. The components of the smoke produced in a smoking simulator were absorbed in methanol. The fraction of volatile in steam phenols was distilled and spectrophotometrically assayed after the reaction with diazo-p-nitroaniline salt. The content of phenol in the smoke, depending on the smoking conditions altered from 101 to 185 micrograms/l cigarette. Conditions of smoking responding to the intermediate values of time of inhalation (2 s) and breaks between inhalations (20 s) and the higher values of speed of inhalation (23 cm3/s) make for the increase of the examined phenols content. Toxicological estimation of doses accepted by smokers smoking 20 cigarettes a day show that they are 9-16 times higher than the maximum acceptable 24 hour dose, determined during environmental exposure to phenols from atmospheric air. Concluding smoking of cigarettes can be the main source of the exposure to phenols.

[Levels of metabolites of selected chemical compounds in the urine of workers in pitch coke plant]. / Poziom metabolitów wybranych zwiazków chemicznych w moczu pracowników koksowni pakowej.

In urine samples collected from pitch coke plant workers just before and after occupational exposure, differentiated concentrations of phenol (20.8-692.8 mg/dm3), p-cresol (51.8-590 mg/dm3), I-naphtol (4.9-63.7 mg/dm3) and benzo(a)pyrene (0.3-18.9 ug/dm3) have been found. The occurrence of enhanced concentrations of phenol in 10.1%, p-cresol in 31.9%, I-naphthol in 13.5% and benzo(a)pyrene in 72.8% of the test urine specimens collected prior to exposure points to a slow excretion of these metabolites of chemical compounds inherent in the work environment. Furthermore, the urinary level of the metabolites in particular coke plant workers points to different individual exposure.