Serum Metabolomics of Children Exposed to Carcinogenic Pollutants from Petrochemical Industries

摘要

Background: Petrochemical industries emit multiple carcinogenic pollutants that could induce common complex diseases, warranting a systemic evaluation of exposures and health impacts on nearby communities. Methods: We applied serum metabolomics approach to identify potential multiple pollutants exposure-induced metabolic changes that could contribute to disease onset. 106 children (aged 9-15) who have lived for more than 5 years near a petrochemical complex in Taiwan were selected. Subjects were defined as high or low exposure group according to distance from their home locations to two main emission points of the complex, and urine concentrations of exposure biomarkers. Individual exposure levels of multiple carcinogenic pollutants including urine heavy metals and 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) were analysed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and high performance liquid chromatography, respectively. Serum targeted metabolites, lipidomic profiles, and 30 acylcarnitines were analysed using ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry. Results: Significantly increased urine concentrations of 1-OHP, vanadium, arsenic, strontium, cadmium, and thallium were found in high exposure group compared to low exposure group. Targeted metabolomics showed 6 upregulated metabolites and 3 downregulated metabolites in high exposure group compared to low exposure group. Lipid profiles showed clear separation between the two exposure groups, and identified 45 potential exposure-related lipids. 8 acylcarnitines were significantly decreased in high exposure group compared to low exposure group, and 2 were significantly increased. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate how a mixture of carcinogenic pollutants emitted from petrochemical industrial sources increased internal exposures in nearby populations in a distance-to-source-related manner, and induce metabolomic changes that could lead to adverse health effects in children.