Title:No Correlation between Blood Benzene Levels and Luteinizing Hormone Plasma Values in Outdoor Workers
Volume: 19
Issue: 8
Author(s): Francesco Tomei, Maria V. Rosati, Giovanna Lorusso, Lidia Ricci, Felice M. Damato, Tiziana Caciari, Roberto Giubilati, Teodorico Casale, Bendetta Pimpinella, Stefania Marchione, Nadia Nardone, Natale Mario di Luca, Francesco Massoni, Vincenza Anzelmo, Roberto Massimi, Gianfranco Tomei, Pasquale Ricci, Carmina Sacco and Serafino Ricci*
Affiliation:
- Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Specialty Scool of Occupational Medicine, Unit of Occupational Medicine, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Viale Regina Elena 336, 00161 Rome,Italy
Keywords:
Benzene, environmental pollutants, luteinizing hormone, outdoor workers, sexual hormones, traffic policemen.
Abstract:
Objective: The purpose of the study is to evaluate whether low-dose exposure to benzene,
an environmental pollutant to which male and female traffic policemen are daily exposed to could
cause alterations in plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) levels.
Methods: From an initial sample of 1594 workers, we only selected 95 workers of whom study we
knew the values of late-shift benzene and LH hormone. All subjects underwent biological monitoring
(final blood benzene evaluation) and luteinizing hormone dosing. Excluding subjects with the main
confounding factors, the final sample included 76 workers. The normal distribution of the variables
was evaluated using the Kolmogorov - Smirnov test, followed by the logarithmic transformation of the
LH and benzene values. The comparison among means was performed by using the t-test for the independent
samples. The ANOVA test was performed for variables with more than 2 modes (ages and
seniority) and Pearson correlation index between variables in the total sample and after subdivision as
to sex, job, sports activity and smoking. The results were considered significant when p values were
less than 0.05.
Results / Conclusion: The study did not show a correlation between benzene levels and LH plasma
levels in outdoor workers.