Indian Journal of Science and Technology
Year: 2020, Volume: 13, Issue: 12, Pages: 1316-1320
Original Article
Samantha Sivaswamy1*, Sankar Sambandan2, Naveen Puttusamy3, Padmavathi Ramasamy4, M Surianarayanan5, Sudhakar Rao Saidam6
1Research Scholar, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Porur, 600116, Chennai, India
2Professor and Head, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Porur, 600116, Chennai, India
3Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Porur, 600116, Chennai, India
4Associate Dean of PG studies, Department of Physiology, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Porur, 600116, Chennai, India
5Principal Scientist, Cell for Industrial Safety and Risk Analysis, Chemical Engineering Department, Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai, 600020, India
6Field/Lab Manager, HAPIN Project, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Porur, 600116, Chennai, India
*Author for correspondence
Samantha Sivaswamy
Research Scholar, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Porur, 600116, Chennai, India
Email: [email protected]
Received Date:03 April 2020, Accepted Date:20 April 2020, Published Date:08 May 2020
Aim: To explore the potential relationship between exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and asthma exacerbation among children and also to explore the potential exposure sources of PAHs at the household level. Methods: Case-control study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Chennai among 60 participants after obtaining approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee. The study was conducted from March till May 2018. Informed consent was obtained from the participants. The participants were included based on their clinical diagnosis of asthma and few participants were as used as control based on no documented history of wheeze and PEFR levels. All the participants were male children aged between 9-12 years and exclusion was done if they were reported to having congenital heart disease, surgery or chronic lung disease. They were interviewed with a standardized questionnaire to ascertain their exposure to PAHs sources. Urinary 1-OHP levels were analyzed using HPLC to determine their exposure. Results: Participants with asthma showed a higher concentration of 1-OHP (7.56mg/g) in their urine. Second-hand exposure to tobacco smoke, consumption of charred or grilled foods, use of indoor air pollutants and exposure to traffic fumes were identified as contributive factors to elevated 1-OHP levels. Conclusion: Exposure sources at household levels may play a major role in exacerbating asthma. Significant PAHs exposure was contributed through dietary habits. Further exposure monitoring studies are needed to quantify the impact of PAH exposure on respiratory health.
Keywords: Polycylic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; Asthma; 1-Hydroxypyrene
Copyright: © 2020 Sivaswamy, Sambandan, Puttusamy, Ramasamy, Surianarayanan, Saidam. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Published By Indian Society for Education and Environment (iSee)
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