Could fibrinogen and hsCRP be useful for assessing personal risk in workers exposed to a mixture of ultrafine particles and organic solvents?

Purpose: Our study focuses on elucidating if two common inflammatory biomarkers, easily performed in any laboratory - high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), as well as fibrinogen - could be used to assess the personal health risk of workers exposed to a complex occupational exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP) and a mixture of organic solvents. Methods: To assess the inflammatory response on the body, laboratory determinations were performed by testing the serum levels of hsCRP and fibrinogen, in exposed and unexposed groups. Results: There are no statistically significant differences for hsCRPs (p-0.25), medians were similar in groups. The mean values of fibrinogen in the three groups were: in the workers group (1st group): 346.2 mg/dl, in the office staff group (2nd group): 328.7 mg/dl, and in the control group (3rd group): 284.8 mg/dl, with significant differences between 1st group vs 3rd group and between 2nd group vs 3rd group (p-0.002). UFP levels differ between the groups, as follows: 1st group were exposed to the highest levels, ranging from 48349 to 3404000 part/cm3; 2nd group, ranging from 17371 to 40595 part/cm3; and 3rd group, ranging from 213 to 16255 part/cm3. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that fibrinogen is a useful inflammatory biomarker for exposure to a mixture of UFP and organic solvents. On the other hand, hsCRP is not a useful inflammatory biomarker in occupational exposure to UFP and organic solvents. Further studies are needed to demonstrate the extent to which fibrinogen is more or less influenced by organic solvents or UFP alone.