nitrogen-dioxide and Nausea

The populations residing near polluted sites are more prone to various types of diseases. The important causes of air pollution are the suspended particulate matter, respirable suspended particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. As limited information is available enumerating the effect of these pollutants on liver physiology of the population living near the polluted sites; in the present study, we tried to investigate their effect on liver of the population residing near the oil drilling sites since birth. In this study, a randomly selected 105 subjects (46 subjects from oil drilling site and 61 subjects from control site) aged above 30 years were taken under consideration. The particulate matter as well as the gaseous pollutants, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, were analyzed through a respirable dust sampler. The level of alkaline phosphatase, alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase enzymes in serum were measured by spectrophotometer. The generalized regression model studies suggests a higher concentration of respirable suspended particulate matter, suspended particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide lowers the alkaline phosphatase level (p<0.0001) by 3.5 times (95% CI 3.1-3.9), 1.5 times (95% CI 1.4-1.6) and 12 times (95% CI 10.74-13.804), respectively in the exposed group. The higher concentration of respirable suspended particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide in air was associated with increase in alanine transaminase level (p<0.0001) by 0.8 times (95% CI 0.589-1.049) and by 2.8 times (95% CI 2.067-3.681) respectively in the exposed group. The increase in nitrogen dioxide level was also associated with increase in aspartate transaminase level (p<0.0001) by 2.5 times (95% CI 1.862-3.313) in the exposed group as compared to control group. Thus, the study reveals that long-term exposure to the environmental pollutants may lead to liver abnormality or injury of populations living in polluted sites.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Air Pollutants; Alanine Transaminase; Alkaline Phosphatase; Anorexia; Aspartate Aminotransferases; Environmental Exposure; Female; Humans; India; Liver; Male; Middle Aged; Nausea; Nitrogen Dioxide; Oil and Gas Fields; Particulate Matter; Probability; Spectrophotometry; Sulfur Dioxide; Weight Loss

The animal studies in mice resulted as follows. Long-term exposure to NO2 at or above 0.5 ppm affected primarily the respiratory organs. The pulmonary effect of NO was slighter than NO2. Nitrosylhemoglobin formation in vivo was much smaller than in vitro strong affinity of NO with hemoglobin. The components other than O3 contained in the photochemically formed oxidant mixtures enhanced the effect of O3 alone. Symptoms of the patients seriously injured by photochemical smog in Japan suggested the different type in quality from the Los Angeles-type smog.

Topics: Air Pollution; Animals; Dizziness; Eye Diseases; Glutathione; Hemoglobins; Humans; Japan; Lung; Mice; Nausea; Nitric Oxide; Nitrogen Dioxide; Respiratory System; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Smog