Alimentazione e lavoro

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Effects of atmospheric nickel on LH blood levels

Introduction: The nickel (Ni) present in urban air pollutant interferes with the functioning of the endocrine system altering the production the release, the transport the metabolism and the mechanism of activity. The purpose of the study is to verify whether occupational exposure to low of nickel (Ni) present in urban air may affect the LH values in outdoor workers performing different tasks of a large Italian city. Materials and methods: 164 subjects of both sexes were included in the study. We assessed the dosage of urinary nickel LH blood. We used statistical methods for description for comparison between medium (T test, Mann- Whitney U test and ANOVA) and for correlation (Pearson test and Multiple Linear Regression). Results: Urinary nickel is associated with female sex for all the statistical test adopted. Discussion: It can be assumed that occupational exposure to low doses of nickel present in pollution affects urban LH levels in female outdoor workers exposed

Effects on Plasmatic Androstenedione in Female Workers Exposed to Urban Stressors

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether occupational exposure to urban stressors can cause alterations on androstenedione plasma levels and related diseases in female traffic police compared to a control group. The research was carried out on an initial sample of 468 female workers (209 traffic police and 259 controls). After excluding the subjects with confounding factors, 192 female subjects: 96 traffic police and 96 controls were included in the study. Traffic police and controls were matched by age, length of service, body mass index, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking habits, habitual consumption of Italian coffee, and habitual intake of soy and liquorice in diet. The results show that the percentage of subjects with fertility and mental health disorders were no different between traffic police and controls. Mean androstenedione values were significantly higher in female traffic police compared to controls. The distribution into classes of androstenedione values in traffic police was statistically significant. The percentage of traffic police with fertility and mental health disorders were not significant compared to controls. Our results suggest that the occupational exposure to urban stressors could alter plasma androstenedione levels in female traffic police. According to our previous research all the hormonal parameters studied, including androstenedione, could be used as early biological markers of chronic exposure to urban stressors, usable in occupational sets