Multipathway polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and pyrene exposure among children living in campania (Italy)

Multipathway exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Pyrene (Py) was studied among children ages 7-9 living in two areas of the Campania Region (South-Italy) classified as urban and rural. During five consecutive days PAHs and Py were detected in air samples from outdoors, indoors (school and home), individuals at inhalatory levels, and in food and beverages (defined as food) consumed daily by each child. 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) was detected in children's urine. Gender, weight and height of each subject were recorded, and the personal Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated. The type of home heating, the presence of smokers and the number of cigarettes smoked at home was determined. Total PAH and Py median concentrations in outdoor air from urban areas were 1.70 ng m(-3) and 0.19 ng m(-3), respectively while in rural areas they were 1.10 ng m(-3) and 0.14 ng m(-3). Indoor air total PAH and Py median concentrations were 2.50 ng m(-3) and 0.15 ng m(-3), respectively for urban areas, and 4.10 ng m(-3) and 0.15 ng m(-3) for rural areas. In food the total PAH and Py median levels were 10.44 and 0.81 microg kg(-1) in urban areas and 18.90 and 0.90 microg kg(-1) in rural areas. The median urinary levels of 1-OHP for urban and rural children were 0.07 and 0.06 micromol/mol creat., respectively. From these data, food appears to be the most relevant source of exposure to PAHs and Py. The Py intake from single (food or air) or total (food and air) pathways did not significantly correlate with the urinary 1-OHP excreted daily for each child during all 5 days of observation

MULTIVARIATE DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURE FOR CHARACTERIZING CORRELATION STRUCTURE OF AIR CONTAMINANTS IN OPERATING ROOMS

Operating Rooms (ORs), collected under different conditions, were analyzed. In 18 ORs of general surgery, concentrations of particles with aerodynamic diameter higher than 5μm and 10μm, microbial charge, air change numbers and differential pressure were measured. To quantify the influence of the surgical environment on the Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) so to minimize the risk in hospitalized patients the data were collected under different conditions. The correlation pattern analysis, based on factorial multivariate techniques, put in evidence the indoor environmental conditions in which parameters characterizing air quality show a strong correlation. Moreover, this analysis allowed to define which staff behaviors introduced the greatest variations in the correlation pattern. Moreover, a clustering procedure allows defining different typologies of ORs, based on their characteristics. The multivariate approach allows to identify the role of each air quality parameter in the correlation structure of the data and to evaluate how their role plays when the condition of the surgical environment changes