Work exposure to urban pollutants and urinary homovanillic acid.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether traffic policemen exposed to urban pollutants could be at risk of alterations on urinary homovanillic acid in 24h HVA(U) excretion levels, an end product of dopamine catabolism, compared with a control group. Traffic policemen were matched by sex, age, and working life with control group after excluding principal confounding factors; 50 traffic policemen (29 men and 21 women) with outdoor activity exposed to urban pollutants and 50 not exposed subjects (29 men and 21 women) with indoor activity were included in the study. The HVA(U) excretion levels were significantly higher in male and female traffic policemen compared to not exposed subjects (respectively P=0.003; P=0.023). The authors hypothesize an effect on the excretion of HVA(U) in traffic policemen exposed to chemical and physical stressors, according to HVA(U) modifications found by other authors in workers exposed in factories.