The correlations between oxidative stress markers and indoor volatile organic compounds among the general population in Ansan and Incheon cities, Korea

Indoor VOC and aldehydes may increase oxidative stress for home dwellers. Our study aim was to determine the correlations between oxidative stress markers in subjects and exposure to VOC and aldehydes in homes. Among ninety five control subjects in Ansan and Incheon (South Korea), blood samples were collected for evaluation of total antioxidant capacity, malondialdehyde (MDA) in plasma, protein carbonyl, and DNA damage of lymphocytes. Indoor VOC and aldehydes were measured in the homes of the subjects. A partial correlation analysis was performed to assess the association between oxidative stress markers and VOC/aldehydes with adjustment for formaldehyde levels. There were significant correlations between the total antioxidant capacity and some chemicals, including heptanes, α-pinene, β-pinene, and decanal in the young age (10-19 years) group. The many correlations between VOC/aldehydes and DNA damage expressed as the Olive tail moment showed statistically significant in the middle (20-39 years) and older age (40-59 years) groups, but not in the young age group. These correlation could not account for the exposure to specific chemicals being related to an increase in DNA damage because most VOC/aldehydes were highly correlate exac other except some chemicals. In conclusion, we found that DNA damage of T- and B-lymphocytes evaluated by the Comet assay could be sensitive oxidative stress markers to evaluate the human response to VOC/ aldehydes exposure in middle and older age groups. Our study also showed that age affected the association between VOC/aldehydes exposure and oxidative stress markers including DNA damage and antioxidants. However, further studies are needed to confirm these correlations in a larger number of subjects because of limitations of this study, including a lack of personal exposure.