Occupational exposure to particulate matters and telomere length

摘要

Little is known about the possible association between occupational exposure to mineral particulate matters and change in leukocyte telomere length (LTL) as a hallmark of aging. The present study studied the relationship between occupational exposures to mineral dust and LTL in the exposed group of workers and compared to non-exposed workers. One hundred and ten male workers (80 exposed and 30 non-exposed) from different units of a ceramic factory were recruited in the study. Personal air samples were collected in the breathing zone of the workers for inhalable and respirable fractions. Relative LTL was measured in blood genomic DNA using the quantitative real-time PCR method and expressed as telomere/single copy gene ratio. Exposure to inhalable and respirable dusts in the exposed group was 22.66?±?52.38 and 2.54?±?9.34?mg/m_(3)respectively. Inhalable and respirable exposure values were highly correlated ( r _(2)?=?0.43; p ?