Biomonitoring of unmetabolized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urine of waterpipe/cigarette café workers

Abstract

Fresh tobacco or the smoke resulting from waterpipe and cigarette contains large amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which consumption can cause releasing of these contaminants into the indoor air of cigarette and waterpipe cafés. This study was conducted to investigate the urinary concentrations of unmetabolized PAH compounds among the employed workers as well as the customers in waterpipe and cigarette cafés along with its association with oxidative stress factors plus kidney injury biomarkers. For this, 35 staffs and 35 customers in these cafés (as an exposed group (EG)), 20 staffs in non-smoking cafés (as 1st control group (CG-1)), and 20 of the public population (as 2nd control group 2 (CG-2)) were chosen and their urine specimens were collected. The results indicated that there is a significant difference between urinary concentration of ƩPAHs in the exposed and control groups (P value < 0.05). Also, "type of tobacco" can be considered as an influential and determining factor for the urinary levels of PAHs among the subjects. Considering the contribution of PAHs to the total toxic equivalents, benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (DahA), and fluoranthene (Flrt) with 32.76%, 27.62%, and 18.65% claimed the largest share in waterpipe/cigarette cafés. The results also indicated a positive and significant relationship between some PAHs and oxidative stress biomarkers as well as uKIM-1 (biomarker for assessing and diagnosing glomerular damage) and TIMP-1 (biomarker of stress in primary steps of injury in tubular cell). Thus, it can be expressed that the workers of these smoking cafés are prone to the detrimental health impacts. Accordingly, proper policies and decisions should be taken to limit the activity of these cafés or proper protective strategies should be adopted to protect the health of exposed individuals.

Keywords: Biomonitoring; Kidney injury; Oxidative stress; PAHs; Waterpipe/cigarette cafés.