Evaluation of lipid parameters in outdoor and indoor workers: preliminary results

Introduction: some categories of outdoor workers are more exposed to certain pollutants in relation to the working hours in open air and to the potential chemicals used in their activity. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the lipid parameters in environment technicians exposed and in indoor workers (control group). Materials and Methods: we studied the lipid parameters (Total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglycerides) comparing mean and standard deviation in 129 male indoor administrative workers and 129 male environment technician outdoor workers. The two groups have been made comparable by age, working age, alcohol consumption and smoking habits. We eliminated all the workers that presented confounding factors. Results: we found a significative increase of LDL values and a significative decrease of HDL values in the outdoor worker group. Discussion: the results suggests that some pollutants present in the air can influence HDL and LDL values.