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Residential environmental exposures and other characteristics associated with detectable PAH-DNA adducts in peripheral mononuclear cells in a population-based sample of adult females

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 15, pages 482–490 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

The detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-DNA adducts in human lymphocytes may be useful as a surrogate end point for individual cancer risk prediction. In this study, we examined the relationship between environmental sources of residential PAH, as well as other potential factors that may confound their association with cancer risk, and the detection of PAH-DNA adducts in a large population-based sample of adult women. Adult female residents of Long Island, New York, aged at least 20 years were identified from the general population between August 1996 and July 1997. Among 1556 women who completed a structured questionnaire, 941 donated sufficient blood (25+ ml) to allow use of a competitive ELISA for measurement of PAH-DNA adducts in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Ambient PAH exposure at the current residence was estimated using geographic modeling (n=796). Environmental home samples of dust (n=356) and soil (n=360) were collected on a random subset of long-term residents (15+ years). Multivariable regression was conducted to obtain the best-fitting predictive models. Three separate models were constructed based on data from : (A) the questionnaire, including a dietary history; (B) environmental home samples; and (C) geographic modeling. Women who donated blood in summer and fall had increased odds of detectable PAH-DNA adducts (OR=2.65, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.69, 4.17; OR=1.59, 95% CI=1.08, 2.32, respectively), as did current and past smokers (OR=1.50, 95% CI=1.00, 2.24; OR=1.46, 95% CI=1.05, 2.02, respectively). There were inconsistent associations between detectable PAH-DNA adducts and other known sources of residential PAH, such as grilled and smoked foods, or a summary measure of total dietary benzo-[a]-pyrene (BaP) intake during the year prior to the interview. Detectable PAH-DNA adducts were inversely associated with increased BaP levels in dust in the home, but positively associated with BaP levels in soil outside of the home, although CIs were wide. Ambient BaP estimates from the geographic model were not associated with detectable PAH-DNA adducts. These data suggest that PAH-DNA adducts detected in a population-based sample of adult women with ambient exposure levels reflect some key residential PAH exposure sources assessed in this study, such as cigarette smoking.

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Abbreviations

PAH:

polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons

SD:

standard deviation

OR:

odds ratio

CI:

confidence interval

LIBCSP:

Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project

BaP:

benzo-(a)-pyrene

FFQ:

food frequency questionnaire

BMI:

body mass index.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by grants from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Environmental Health and Sciences (Grant nos. UO1CA/ES66572, P30ES09089, and P30ES10126), the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the Babylon Breast Cancer Coalition. IRB approval was obtained by all collaborating institutions. The study was conducted in accordance with national and institutional guidelines for the protection of all study participants. For their valuable contributions to the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project the authors thank: members of the Long Island Breast Cancer Network; the 31 participating institutions on Long Island and in New York City, NY, USA; our National Institutes of Health collaborators, Gwen Collman, PhD, National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences; G. Iris Obrams, MD, PhD formerly of the National Cancer Institute; members of the External Advisory Committee to the population-based case–control study: Leslie Bernstein, PhD, (Committee chair); Gerald Akland, MS; Barbara Balaban, MSW; Blake Cady, MD; Dale Sandler, PhD; Roy Shore, PhD; and Gerald Wogan, PhD; as well as other collaborators who assisted with various aspects of our data collection efforts including Mary Wolff, PhD; Gail Garbowski, MPH; H. Leon Bradlow, PhD; Martin Trent, BS; Ruby Senie, PhD; Carla Maffeo, PhD; Pat Montalvan; Gertrud Berkowitz, PhD; Margaret Kemeny, MD; Mark Citron, MD; Freya Schnabel, MD; Allen Schuss, MD; Steven Hajdu, MD; and Vincent Vinciguerra, MD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, CB#7435 McGavran-Greenberg Hall, University of North Carolina School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599-7435, USA

    Sumitra Shantakumar, Marilie D Gammon, Sharon K Sagiv & Mia M Gaudet

  2. Global Epidemiology, Safety and Risk Management, Pfizer, Inc., New York, New York, USA

    Sybil M Eng

  3. Department of Community Medicine, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA

    Susan L Teitelbaum, Julie A Britton & Maureen Hatch

  4. Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA

    Mary Beth Terry, Steven D Stellman & Alfred I Neugut

  5. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, New York, USA

    Andrea Paykin

  6. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA

    Tie Lan Young, Lian Wen Wang, Qiao Wang & Regina M Santella

  7. Consulting in the Public Interest, Inc., Lambertville, New Jersy, USA

    Jan Beyea

  8. Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    David Camann

  9. Department of Pharmacology, Penn State College of Medicine, USA

    Bogdan Prokopczyk

  10. Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Stony Brook, New York, USA

    Geoffrey C Kabat

  11. Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA

    Bruce Levin

  12. Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA

    Alfred I Neugut

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  1. Sumitra Shantakumar
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  2. Marilie D Gammon
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  21. Regina M Santella
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Correspondence to Sumitra Shantakumar.

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Shantakumar, S., Gammon, M., Eng, S. et al. Residential environmental exposures and other characteristics associated with detectable PAH-DNA adducts in peripheral mononuclear cells in a population-based sample of adult females. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 15, 482–490 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500426

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