Impact of Chronic Gasoline Exposure on Blood Parameters and Liver Enzymes in Gasoline Station Workers

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds such as gasoline are linked with various deleterious health effects including blood and liver diseases. This study was designed to explore the impact of gasoline on blood parameters and liver enzymes. The study was conducted in Baghdad City from July to December 2023. It included 50 gasoline station workers who had been occupationally exposed to gasoline and 50 healthy, unexposed persons recruited as a control group. A complete blood picture test was conducted using a whole hematology analyzer to indicate white blood cell (WBC) counts, neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, eosinophil, basophil, RBC, platelet counts, hemoglobin, and hematocrit, also the serum level of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine amino transferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was determined in gasoline exposed workers and compared with control persons. The results indicated that workers exposed to gasoline showed significantly higher levels (P≤0.05) of Mean platelet volume (MPV) and Immature granulocytes (IG) compared to unexposed control individuals (11.24 ±0.23 versus 10.50 ±0.24) and (0.029 ±0.01 versus 0.013 ±0.01), respectively. However, there were insignificant differences in serum concentrations of other blood parameters including WBC, RBC, platelet, hemoglobin, and hematocrit between exposed workers and control persons. The serum concentration of ALP (IU/L) was significantly (P≤0.05) elevated in the gasoline-exposed workers compared with the control persons (24.30 ±3.26versus 17.70 ±2.01). In contrast, there were no significant differences in AST and ALP enzymes between gasoline-exposed workers and control persons. This study confirms that blood parameters and liver enzymes are useful bioassays that should be used to detect early impacts of gasoline exposure.