This study attempted to assess the internal dose and oxidative stress in male restaurant workers exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from cooking oil fumes (COFs) in Chinese restaurants. The study participants included 155 non-smoking male restaurant workers, 62 kitchen staff and 93 service staff in Chinese restaurants in Taiwan. Airborne particulate PAHs were monitored in kitchens and dining areas for two consecutive workdays, measured over a 12 hour period on each workday, then identified via HPLC chromatograph. Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) were used to provide an internal dose of COFs exposure, and urinary malondialdehyde (MDA) was adopted as an oxidative stress marker. Multiple regression models were used to assess the relationship between MDA and 1-OHP levels, after adjusting for key personal covariates.
Summed particulate PAHs levels in kitchens (median: 24.7ng/m³) were significantly higher than those in dining areas (median: 4.6ng/m³). For non-smoker kitchen staff, mean MDA and 1-OHP levels were 344.2±243.7 μmol/mol creatinine and 6.0±8.0 μmol/mol creatinine, respectively. These levels were significantly higher than those for non-smoker service staff: 244.2±164.4 μmol/ mol creatinine and 2.4±4.3 μmol/mol creatinine, respectively. Worker urinary 1-OHP levels were significantly associated with work in kitchens (p<0.05). Furthermore, worker urinary MDA levels were significantly associated with their urinary 1-OHP levels (p<0.001) and work hours per day (p<0.05).The findings indicate that urinary 1-OHP and MDA reflect occupational PAHs from COFs exposure and oxidative stress in Chinese restaurants.