PAH dermal contamination in asphalt road pavers

Dermal exposure has been suggested as a major determinant of the total PAH dose absorbed by road pavers from bitumen fumes. In the present research we assessed dermal contamination by sixteen PAH [from naphtalene to indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene] in 24 asphalt road pavers in Italy. To each subject six pads (round polypropylene membrane) were applied in different parts of the body: neck, shoulder, upper arm, wrist, upper leg and ankle, during the workshift. Personal exposure to airborne Σ16PAH was in the range 323-1365 ng/m3. Phenantrene (PhA), pyrene (Py), and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) were detected in 100, 98 and 75% of pads. Their relative abundances in the different positions were similar. Wrist and neck had the highest PAH contamination with median values of 1.82, 0.52 and 0.06 and 1.19, 0.24 and 0.10 ng/cm2 for PhA, Py and BaP, respectively. In these positions PhA and Py were correlated with almost all 2- to 4-ring volatile PAH (0.41<r<0.91), but not with BaP; BaP was correlated with almost all 4- to 5- ring PAH (0.43<r<0.78). The results of this study suggest that, for a proper estimation of dermal contamination, at least one light (e.g. PhA and Py) and one heavy (e.g. BaP) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, selected as the most representative compounds because of their abundance and/or toxicological relevance, should be determined; wrist and neck may be suggested as the most representative and convenient positions to perform sample collection.