Int Arch Occup Environ Health DOI 10.1007/s00420-007-0178-z 123 ORIGINAL ARTICLE 1-Hydroxypyrene as a biomarker of PAH exposure among subjects living in two separate regions from a steel mill Mi-Sun Lee · Ki-Do Eum · Kyung-Duk Zoh · Tak-Soo Kim · Yun-Suk Pak · Domyung Paek Received: 1 August 2006 / Accepted: 16 January 2007  Springer-Verlag 2007 Abstract Objective Steel mills are known to be a source of ambient polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and increased cancer risk has been reported among neighborhoods previ- ously. In this study, we tried to assess the exposure to PAHs among residents nearby to a large steel mill in Korea by measuring urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP). Methods Two separate areas at diVerent distances from a steel mill but on the same wind direction were chosen to evaluate the environmental exposures to polycyclic aro- matic hydrocarbons. Three-hundred and Wfty children liv- ing in the vicinity of steel plant (“nearby” group) and 606 children residing much farther from the factory (“remote” group) participated. Urine was collected on three consecu- tive days, and questionnaires about exposure to passive smoking and food consumption as well as demographics were obtained. Routine monitoring data of ambient pollu- tants were obtained and particulate matter less than 10 m (PM 10 ) was analyzed with multiple regressions to assess the associations with urinary 1-OHP. Results The geometric mean concentration of urinary 1- OHP among nearby group (0.048 § 1.878 mol/mol creati- nine, GM § GSD) was approximately 1.3 times higher than that among remote group (0.036 § 2.425 mol/mol creati- nine, GM § GSD), and using multiple regression tech- niques, the diVerence was signiWcant (P < 0.0001) after adjusting for confounding variables. When diVerent periods before the sampling of urine were examined, PM 10 aver- ages over 2 days, 3 days, and 1 week prior to urine sam- pling showed signiWcant associations with urinary 1-OHP levels. Conclusion Our Wndings are consistent with the interpre- tation that residents nearby to a steel mill are exposed to PAHs through ambient exposures. Keywords 1-hydroxypyrene · Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons · Particulate matter · Steel plant · Children Introduction Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are generated during incomplete combustion of organic matter. Humans are exposed to PAHs of various environments including occupational (e.g., coke-oven, iron-foundry, etc), environ- mental (e.g., air pollution, drinking water, soil, etc), life style (e.g. active or passive smoking), and dietary sources (IARC 1983; Jongeneelen 1994; Jongeneelen 1997). Typi- cal major environmental pollution problems reported from a steel mill include emission of PAHs in many studies (Pope et al 1989; Dusseldorp et al. 1995; Branisteanu and Aiking 1998; Strunk et al. 2002; Liberti et al. 2006; Mucha et al. 2006), and some of those PAHs have potential carcin- ogenic and/or mutagenic properties (IARC 1987). PAHs M.-S. Lee · K.-D. Eum · Y.-S. Pak · D. Paek (&) Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, 28 Yeunkun-Dong, Jongno-Gu, Seoul 110-460, Republic of Korea e-mail: paekdm@snu.ac.kr K.-D. Zoh Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea T.-S. Kim Yeongsan River Basin Environmental OYce, Ministry of Environment, 760-2 Ilgok-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-727, Republic of Korea