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Background: Combustion of traditional biomass fuels and coal has been found to be associated with exposure to particulates and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and cause a series of adverse health effects. Characterization-quantification of such exposure achieved so far is not optimum, and establishment of a protective mechanism with proven efficacy is the urgent need. Methods: The present study was planned to characterize exposure from fuel during cooking in a village of India and understand the effect of using intervention measure. In this study, exposure to different pollutants was examined by personal monitoring in different cooking arrangements with traditional and modified oven. Results: It is observed that level of the pollutants has lessened by several folds while cooking with modified oven in comparison to unmodified oven. Such change of pollutants levels with the use of modified oven was found to be statistically significant in cases of benzene (P < 0.001), toluene (P < 0.01), and particulates (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: This study highlights the exposure from indoor air pollution during cooking and promotes use of low-cost protective mechanisms to curb resulting human health adversities. This study also calls for concerted awareness generation activity among the rural population (especially women) regarding adverse health effect of cooking fuels and protective effect of installed mechanisms.

Chronic arsenic toxicity is a serious environmental health problem across the world. Bangladesh and India (particularly the state of West Bengal) are the worst affected countries with such problem. The present study reports plasma-aminothiols (p-aminothiols) like L-cysteine (L-Cys), cysteinyl glycine (Cys-gly), total homocysteine (t-Hcy) and glutathione (GSH) status, and the inverse relationship of t-Hcy with B-vitamins (B1, B6, B9 and B12) in arsenic exposed population of West Bengal, India. Reverse phase HPLC was used to measure p-aminothiols and serum B-vitamins in different arsenic exposed population. Arsenic in drinking water and urine were measured by flow injection analysis system - Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FIAS-AAS) and Transversely heated graphite atomizer (THGA-AAS) techniques, respectively. Water arsenic exposure was >50 µg/L in 50% population, of which majority (33.58%) belong to the range of >50-500 µg/L and more than 8% were even >1000 µg/L. Urine arsenic (µg/g creatinine) levels increased with arsenic exposure. The variability among p-aminothiols was also observed with higher exposure to arsenic in drinking water. A significant difference between exposed and control population was noticed for plasma L-Cys. The difference of B-vitamins between the population exposed to 50 µg/L arsenic in drinking water was also found to be significant. B9 and B12 deficiency with increased consumption of arsenic in water corroborates the anemic conditions commonly observed among arsenic exposed population. The aminothiol status indicated oxidative stress in exposed population. This study demonstrated progressive increase in plasma t-Hcy as well as inverse relationships of serum B-vitamins with increased water arsenic concentration.

This study focused work-exposure to particulate matter ≤ 10 µm (PM10), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and biological monitoring of major VOCs (BTEX) to observe the significant effects of traffic related pollutants on respiratory and hematological systems of workers engaged in two occupational settings, petrol pumps and traffic areas of Kolkata metropolitan city, India. PM10 was assessed by personal sampling and particle size distribution by 8-stage Cascade Impactor. VOCs were analysed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and five urinary metabolites, trans trans- mercapturic acid (tt-MA), S-phenyl mercapturic acid (SPMA), hippuric acid (HA), mandelic acid (MA) and methyl hippuric acid (MHA) of VOCs, benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylenes (BTEX) by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Pulmonary functions test (PFT) was measured Spirometrically. ∂-aminoleavulinic acid (ALA) and porphobilinogen (PBG) in lymphocytes were measured spectrophometrically following column chromatographic separation. High exposure to PM10, having 50% of particles, ≤ 5.0 µm in both the occupational settings. Exposure to toluene was highest in petrol pumps whereas benzene was highest (104.6 ± 99.0 μg m-3) for traffic police personnel. Workplace Benzene is found many fold higher than the National ambient standard. Air-benzene is correlated significantly with pre- and post-shift tt-MA (p < 0.001) and SPMA (p < 0.001) of exposed workers. Blood cell counts indicated benzene induced hematotoxicity. ALA and PBG accumulation in lymphocytes indicated alteration in heme-metabolism, especially among traffic police. Significant reduction of force exploratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) of fuel fillers are observed with increased tt-MA and SPMA. Study revealed PFT impairments 11.11% (6.66% restrictive and 2.22% obstructive and combined restrictive and obstructive type, each) among petrol pumps and 8.3% obstructive type among traffic police.

Regional Occupational Health Centre (Eastern), (Indian Council of Medical Research), Block DP, Sector V, Salt Lake, Kolkata-700 091, India E-mail : ashit_mukherjee@yahoo.com Department of Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry Section, Jadavpur University, Kolkata-700 032, India Manuscript received 27 June 2017, revised 06 November 2017, accepted 07 November 2017 Chronic arsenic toxicity through drinking water is still one of the major problems across the world. Bangladesh and India (particularly the state of West Bengal) are the worst affected countries with such problem. Millions of people all over the world are affected by arsenic related diseases. In our study, concentration of ground water arsenic, urine arsenic, hair arsenic and nail arsenic from adult individuals were measured from exposed areas of West Bengal, India respectively by flow injection atomic spectroscopy and transverselyheated graphite atomiser techniques. Porphyrins, uroporphyrin III, heptacarboxyporphyrin I, hexacarboxyporphyrin I, pentacarboxyporphyrin I, coproporphyrin III in urine were analysed separately by HPLC using fluorescence detector as well as level of vitamin B6 , vitamin B9 and vitamin B12 were carried out in serum samples among the population in the selected area in North 24-Parganas, West Bengal, India. Concentration of uro III, hepta I, copro III and copro III/uro III were observed to increase irrespective of gender and also in total; whereas level of B vitamins were found to decrease with increase in exposure to arsenic contaminated drinking water from underground sources. The difference of vitamin B6 (p < 0.01) between the population exposed to 50 µg/L arsenic in drinking water was found to be significant. Significant difference was also noticed in case of uro III (p < 0.05), copro III (p < 0.01) and copro III/uro III (p < 0.05) between two exposure categories. This study demonstrated increasing tendency in urinary porphyrins as well as inverse relationships of serum B vitamins with increased water arsenic concentration.

Regional Occupational Health Centre (Eastern) (Indian Council of Medical Research), Block DP, Sector V, Salt Lake, Kolkata-700 091, India E-mail : ashit_mukherjee@yahoo.com Department of Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry Section, Jadavpur University, Kolkata-700 032, India Manuscript received 27 June 2017, revised 07 September 2017, accepted 17 November 2017 Arsenic contamination in ground water has been received much attention in recent times because of its carcinogenicity. Chronic exposure to arsenic through drinking water causes several multi-organ diseases including cancer. This study reports urinary porphyrins profile as a mark of disturbances in heme biosynthetic pathway due to chronic exposure to arsenic contaminated drinking water in endemic area of North 24- Parganas district of West Bengal. Arsenic in drinking water and urine were measured respectively by flow injection analysis system – Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FIAS-AAS) and Transversely heated graphite atomizer (THGA-AAS) techniques. Urinary porphyrins were estimated simultaneously by reverse phase HPLC. Arsenic level in water was >50 µg/L in 57.7% tube wells, of which 13.3% were, >500 µg/L. Urinary arsenic (µg/g creatinine) was found to increase with increasing exposure. Study showed altered urinary porphyrins with changes in water arsenic (W-As) content as well as with duration of exposure. Higher porphyrin levels were observed in group, exposed to water arsenic, >250 µg/L, having exposure, ≥15 years, irrespective of gender. Significant differences between urinary porphyrins and duration of exposure of the subjects was noticed in the cases, uro III (p < 0.001), penta I (p < 0.05), copro III (p < 0.001) and the ratio of copro III/ uro III (p < 0.05). An increasing trend of urinary porphyrins noticed with exposure to arsenic, though the difference between urinary porphyrins and exposure to water arsenic was insignificant. The study suggests that urinary porphyrins may serve as biomarker of chronic exposure to arsenic among population in the endemic area.

This study reports a work-environmental assessment and workers' exposure in a major prebake type aluminium smelter in India. Levels of known health hazards in and near the main smelting operations viz., the Potroom, the Carbon area, the Butt section, the Rodding shop, the Bath preparing area and the Casthouse were measured. Dustiness in general was high to excessively high. Mean levels of respirable dust (PM10) in air in the three dustiest areas were 24.07 mg/m3 in the Carbon areas, 27.57 mg/m3 in the Bath preparing and 4.44 mg/m3 in the Rodding shop. 40- 60% of the particles were less than 5 microm in size. 0.5- 2.82% particulate fluoride was obtained in the size fraction 0.4- 4.7 microm of the Potroom air. Naturally, exposures to total dusts were very high in these processes. The background levels of NOx and SO2 and fluorides (gaseous and particulate) were found to be within the prescribed Indian Standards. Higher exposures to gaseous and particulate fluoride, 3.85 and 6.53 mg/m3 respectively, were observed among the Rodding shop workers. The levels ofpolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were deemed to be excessive in the Carbon area. Measurements of heat stress were made in winter and were found to be lower than the prescribed limit.

This study focused work-exposure to particulate matter ≤ 10 µm (PM

Frequent and repetitive activities in job and awkward postures are shown as major contributors of musculoskeletal problems in most of the occupational health studies; however, efforts to explore newer risk factor are important to plan interventional measures. In this backdrop, this study examined contribution of fluoride exposure to musculoskeletal complaints. A cross-sectional interviewer-administered questionnaire survey was conducted involving 180 randomly selected subjects from a metal smelting industry. Clinical examination of the subjects was also performed to assess their health status and morbidity details. Assessment of personal exposure to particulate and gaseous fluoride at workplace was conducted. Urinary fluoride level was also examined in post-shift samples collected from study subjects. The mean age of the study subjects was 39.1 (±6.7) years. Majority of the workers (42.5%) were engaged in pot room. About 54% workers were suffering from backache and 66% subjects had joint pain. Exposure of workers to both particulate and gaseous fluoride and post-working shift urinary fluoride level was significantly higher in pot-room workers in comparison with all other workers. It was observed that age (odds ratio (OR): 1.62; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.18–2.34), drinking untreated water (OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.03–2.76), working in pot room (OR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.13–1.91) and urinary fluoride level (OR: 2.71; 95% CI: 1.81–3.75) had significant effects on musculoskeletal complaints. This study concludes that along with other predictors such as nature of work, posture at work and age of worker, exposure to fluoride also has significant role in the occurrence of musculoskeletal morbidity.

This paper studies work exposure of drivers and conductors of special state buses in Kolkata, India to noise, heat, respirable dust and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Equivalent noise exposures of drivers at work and in-bus noise are evaluated using a precision noise level meter. Thermal conditions like wet bulb globe temperature, relative humidity, and dry-bulb temperature were measured while plying through different traffic routes. Personal sampling techniques are adopted for dust and VOC monitoring and gas chromatography with flame ionisation detector was used to estimate VOCs. Drivers’ exposure to noise depended on the number of trips performed per day and exceeded the recommended American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists’ threshold limit value, mostly after a second trip. The WBGT index revealed strenuous conditions for the working group. Mean dust exposures for drivers and conductors were found to be much higher than the level proposed in the notice of intended changes of ACGIH TLV (1995–96) for diesel particulate matter. Exposure to benzene, toluene, and xylene exhibit higher results than reported elsewhere.

Air samples from various processing areas of an Indian jute mill were examined for endotoxin. The authors assessed work-related respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function changes in the dust-exposed workers from the different processing areas using a standard questionnaire and spirometry. Endotoxin was estimated in water extract of jute dust from 3 milling areas, and in outside air, by the Limulus amebocyte lysate gel clot technique. The batching, spinning, and weaving areas of the jute mill showed endotoxin levels of 0.22-4.42 microg/m3, 0.04-1.47 microg/m3, and 0.01-0.07 microg/m3, respectively, values similar to those found in Indian cotton mills. Respiratory morbidities among the workers included typical byssinotic symptoms, along with acute changes in postshift forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1.0) (31.8%). Results of this study demonstrated that increased exposure to bacterial endotoxin in airborne dust is related to byssinotic symptoms among Indian jute mill workers. Findings were similar to those reported previously for workers in the cotton, flax, and hemp industries.

Assessment of respirable dust, personal exposures of miners and free silica contents in dust were undertaken to find out the associated risk of coal workers' pneumoconiosis in 9 coal mines of Eastern India during 1988-91. Mine Research Establishment (MRE), 113A Gravimetric Dust Sampler (GDS) and personal samplers (AFC 123), Cassella, London, approved by Director General of Mines Safety (DGMS) were used respectively for monitoring of mine air dust and personal exposures of miners. Fourier Transform Infra-red (FTIR) Spectroscopy determined free silica in respirable dusts. Thermal Conditions like Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index, humidity and wind velocity were also recorded during monitoring. The dust levels in the face return air of both, Board & Pillar (B&P) and Long Wall (LW) mining were found above the permissible level recommended by DGMS, Govt. of India. The drilling, blasting and loading are the major dusty operations in B&P method. Exposures of driller and loader were varied between, 0.81-9.48 mg/m3 and 0.05-9.84 mg/m3 respectively in B&P mining, whereas exposures of DOSCO loader, Shearer operator and Power Support Face Worker were varied between 2.65-9.11 mg/m3, 0.22-10.00 mg/m3 and 0.12-9.32 mg/m3 respectively in LW mining. In open cast mining, compressor and driller operators are the major exposed groups. The percentage silica in respirable dusts found below 5% in all most all the workers except among query loaders and drillers of open cast mines.

Although byssinosis in jute mill workers remains controversial, studies in a few jute mills in West-Bengal, India, revealed typical byssinotic syndrome associated with acute changes in FEV1 on the first working day after rest. The present study on 148 jute mill workers is reported to confirm the occurrence of byssinosis in jute mill workers. Work related respiratory symptoms; acute and chronic pulmonary function changes among exposed workers were studied on the basis of standard questionnaire and spirometric method along with dust level, particle mass size distributions and gram-negative bacterial endotoxins. The pulmonary function test (PFT) changes were defined as per the recommendation of World Health Organization and of Bouhys et al. Total dust in jute mill air were monitored by high volume sampling, technique (Staplex, USA), Andersen cascade impactor was used for particle size distribution and personal exposure level was determined by personal sampler (Casella, London). Endotoxin in airborne jute dust was analysed by Lymulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) "Gel Clot" technique. Batching is the dustiest process in the mill. Size distribution showed that about 70-80% dust in diameter of < 10 microm, 40-50%, < 5 microm and 10-20%, < 2 microm. Mean endotoxin levels found in hatching, spinning and weaving, and beaming were 2.319 microg/m3, 0.956 microg/ m3, 0.041 microg/m3 respectively and are comparable to the values obtained up to date in Indian cotton mills. Respiratory morbidity study reported typical byssinotic symptoms along with acute post shift FEV1 changes (31.8%) and chronic changes in FEV1 (43.2%) among exposed workers. The group with higher exposure showed significantly lower FVC, FEV1, PEFR and FEF25-75% values. The study confirmed the findings of the earlier studies and clearly indicated that the Indian jute mill workers are also suffering from byssinosis as observed in cotton, flask and hemp workers.

The fluorosis problem along with endemicity characterised by high degree of industries releasing fluorides into the environment was studied to quantify the fluoride levels in the different water sources. The analysis showed that out of 17 tube wells monitored, three (17.65%) showed higher fluoride levels. Among the open well monitored, 17 (58.54%) had higher fluoride content out of 41. The samples collected at open ponds showed that nine (47.37%) samples had higher fluoride content. The comparisons were made with the control samples.