Esposizione ad idrocarburi policiclici aromatici nei pizzaioli con forno a legna

Pizza makers during their activity are exposed to wood-burning fumes from special typical ovens. Up to now some questions regarding level of exposure to PAH were discussed with the only aim of eater’s health protection, but never considering workers. Such a specific study is lacking in literature. During the 2007 year a research was performed in Lombardy to assess occupational exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) of 14 pizza work-places. The protocol included interview by questionnaires, environmental air monitoring (the 16 most relevant PAH according to the American Environmental Protection Agency, EPA) and biological monitoring of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene. Airborne PAH exposure in these workers resulted with a similar range as observed in other working activities by studies demonstrating low level. The excretion of the 1-hydroxypyrene in urine collected in three different moments demonstrated that pizza makers experienced a modest positive trend (baseline<before shift<end of shift). The results showed that making pizza by traditional wood-oven expose the operators to an acceptable levels of PAH.