Tumour Necrotic Factor Alpha level and Some Biochemical Parameters as a Measure of Health Risks Due to Exposure to Liquefied Petroleum Gas on Vendors in Calabar, Nigeria

Background: The human body is constantly exposed to chemicals and other substances injurious to health from the environments, foods etc. These substances are taken into the body either consciously or unconsciously through the mouth, nose, and skin which often lead to oxidative stress, gene mutation, direct injury on cells and tissue, alteration of immune system etc, resulting in cancer development and other chronic and acute health challenges and death. This study is aimed at assessing the health risks due to chronic exposure to non-combusted Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and appraising the potential inflammatory and liver problem among its vendors who did not wear Personal Protective Equipments (PPE).

Methods: Forty-one apparently healthy Liquefied Petroleum Gas sellers and Forty-one apparently healthy non Liquefied Petroleum Gas sellers/user (control), aged 18 to 50 years were recruited for this study. The Body Mass Index (BMI) was determined by taking the ratio of weights in Kg to the square of heights in meters. Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNF-α) was estimated by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), 2-butanol was estimated using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), ALT and AST were estimated using Colorimetric method. Data were analyzed using Student’s t-test and Pearson’s correlation at p<0.05.

Results: From the results obtained, AST, ALT and BMI did not show significant variation but TNF-α and 2-butanol showed a significant variation compared to control. TNF-α and 2-butanol showed a significant positive correlation among the exposed group. The duration of exposure does not appear to cause a significant difference in the levels of the biochemical parameters.

Conclusion: This study therefore showed that exposure to Liquefied Petroleum Gas has no effect on anthropometric and liver parameter but appears to cause significant elevation of TNF-α and 2-butanol, meaning that sellers may be predisposed to inflammation. It is therefore recommended that vendors of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) always wear their PPE to avoid deleterious effect on their health.