Abstract:

Objective To discuss the association between occupational acid fog exposure and accelerated biological aging of the workers， and to clarify its related risk factors. Methods A total of 341 male workers exposed to occupational acid fog and 201 male workers without occupational exposure were selected as the study subjects, and they were divided into exposure group and control group, respectively. The general informations of the subjects in two groups were collected through questionnaires and physical examinations. The levels of red blood cell count（RBC）, platelet count（PLT）, albumin（ALB）, urea（Urea）, creatinine（CR）, triglycerides（TG）, total cholesterol（TC）, glycated hemoglobin（HBA1c）, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein（Hs-CRP） in serum of the subjects in two groups were detected. The Klemera-Doubal method （KDM） was used to construct the composite aging measure, KDM-biological age（BA）（KDM-BA）. The model parameters were trained using samples from the 2009 China Health and Nutrition Survey（CHNS） Database to calculate the BA acceleration of the subjects in two groups； stratified analysis based on the population characteristics was conducted to analyze the BA of the subjects in two groups with different population characteristics； generalized linear model was used to analyze the factors influencing BA acceleration due to acid fog exposure. Results The model parameters were trained using samples from the 2009 CHNS Database, including 8 133 cases aged 20-79 years, of which 3 788 were male. The levels of Urea, CR, HBA1c, ALB, and TC, as well as systolic blood pressure (SBP), total working years, sleep duration, and body mass index（BMI） of the subjects between two groups had significant differences（P<0.05）. Compared with control group, the BA acceleration of the subjects in exposure group was significantly increased （P<0.05）. In entire population and exposure group, the BA acceleration in the smokers was significantly higher than that in the non-smokers （P<0.05）. In entire population, control group, and exposure group, the BA accelerations of the subjects in different BMI groups were significantly decreased with the increase of BMI （P<0.05）. Compared with control group, the BA acceleration of the subjects in exposure group was significantly increased（P<0.05）， including those under 40 years old, with total working years of 4-7 years, Han nationality, unmarried, smokers, and sleep duration 6-7 h, and with overweight. Acid fog exposure, smoking, and BMI were associated with the BA acceleration （β=0.72, 95% CI： 0.24—1.21； β=0.59, 95% CI： 0.11—1.06； β=-0.29, 95% CI： -0.35—-0.22）. Conclusion Occupational acid fog exposure may accelerate the biological aging in the workers, and acid fog is a risk factor to accelerate the biological aging of the body.

Key words: Acid fog, Biologrcal aging, Biological age, Smoking, Body mass index