Assessment of Occupational Exposure to BTEX in a Petrochemical Plant via Urinary Biomarkers

Višnja Mihajlović, Nenad Grba, Jan Suđi, Diane Eichert, Smilja Krajinović, Milivoj B. Gavrilov and Slobodan B. Marković
Additional contact information
Višnja Mihajlović: Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical Faculty “Mihajlo Pupin”, University of Novi Sad, 23101 Zrenjanin, Serbia
Nenad Grba: Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Jan Suđi: Institute of Occupational Health, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Diane Eichert: Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A, 34149 Trieste, Italy
Smilja Krajinović: Department of Environmental Engineering and Occupational Safety, Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Milivoj B. Gavrilov: Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Slobodan B. Marković: Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 13, 1-15

Abstract: This work presents the results of the first Serbian monitoring campaign performed to assess the occupational exposure of petrochemical industry workers to benzene (B), toluene (T), ethylbenzene (E), and xylene (X), known collectively as BTEX. The following urinary biomarkers were investigated: phenol, hippuric acid, o-Cresol, p-Cresol, and creatinine. BTEX compounds were collected in 2014 using Casella passive samplers. Multivariate statistical analysis was performed to put in evidence the correlation between the BTEX measured in air and the concentration of urinary biomarkers. While the results indicate an elevated presence of benzene in the air in the working environment studied that surpasses the national and European Occupational Exposure Limits (OEL), the levels of the remaining (TEX) parameters measured were below the OEL. The high relative standard deviations (RSD) for the concentrations of each BTEX compound (68–161 mg m −3 ) point toward an intensive occupational exposure to BTEX. This was confirmed by relevant urine biomarkers, particularly by the mean values of phenol, which were ten and fourteen times higher than the ones found in the control group (14–12 mg g −1 of creatinine). On average, workers are at a higher risk of developing cancer (6.1 × 10 −3 ), with risk levels exceeding the US EPA limits. Benzene levels should therefore be maintained under tight controls and monitored via proper urinary biomarkers.

Keywords: petrochemical industry; air pollution; BTEX; urine biomarkers; multivariate analysis; carcinogenic risks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7178/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7178/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:13:p:7178-:d:582683

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().