Table 2

Median concentrations of urinary PAH metabolites for study groups

PAH metabolite	Controls				Chimney sweeps					Creosote-exposed workers
PAH metabolite	n	Median	Min	Max	n *	Median	Min	Max	P value †	n *	Median	Min	Max	P value ‡
1-OH-Phe (µg/g crea.)
All participants	151	0.14	0.016	2.3	148	0.23	0.032	1.7	<0.001§	19	19	5.1	61	<0.001§
Smokers	24	0.21	0.074	0.73	27	0.30	0.044	0.67	0.052	3	27	20	29	0.005
Party/former smokers	44	0.15	0.030	0.85	49	0.28	0.053	1.7	<0.001	6	16	5	29	<0.001
Never smokers	83	0.12	0.016	2.3	71	0.18	0.032	1.3	<0.001	9	14	6	55	<0.001
∑2-,3-OH-Phe (µg/g crea.)
All participants	151	0.11	0.027	2.7	148	0.37	0.048	4.6	<0.001§	19	35	11	92	<0.001§
Smokers	24	0.27	0.041	1.3	27	0.50	0.080	2.1	0.004	3	49	41	49	0.005
Party/ former smokers	44	0.11	0.044	0.62	49	0.42	0.055	4.6	<0.001	6	24	11	49	<0.001
Never smokers	83	0.10	0.027	2.7	71	0.31	0.048	3.1	<0.001	9	28	13	92	<0.001
4-OH-Phe (ng/g crea.)
All participants	151	15	2.6	95	148	27	3.8	304	<0.001§	19	1051	293	9780	<0.001§
Smokers	24	40	7.6	95	27	46	6.4	152	0.462	3	961	759	1144	0.005
Party/ former smokers	44	16	2.8	92	49	30	3.8	304	<0.001	6	1186	293	7513	<0.001
Never smokers	83	13	2.6	58	71	20	4.4	175	<0.001	9	1051	300	9780	<0.001
∑OH-Phe (µg/g crea.)
All participants	151	0.27	0.070	5.1	148	0.64	0.086	6.6	<0.001§	19	51	19	138	<0.001§
Smokers	24	0.50	0.13	2.1	27	0.88	0.13	2.9	0.010	3	78	62	78	0.005
Party/ former smokers	44	0.28	0.12	1.1	49	0.71	0.12	6.6	<0.001	6	44	19	72	<0.001
Never smokers	83	0.23	0.070	5.1	71	0.54	0.086	4.3	<0.001	9	42	19	138	<0.001
∑OH-Flu (µg/g crea.)
All participants	151	0.15	0.042	3.8	148	0.32	0.063	4.3	<0.001§	19	53	27	128	<0.001§
Smokers	24	1.4	0.21	3.8	27	1.5	0.22	3.4	0.473	3	79	71	118	0.005
Party/ former smokers	44	0.15	0.073	0.82	49	0.39	0.066	4.3	<0.001	6	46	42	70	<0.001
Never smokers	83	0.13	0.042	0.78	71	0.20	0.063	1.9	<0.001	9	38	27	100	<0.001

*There was one participant with missing smoking status.
†General linear model comparing controls with chimney sweeps adjusted for age.
‡General linear model comparing controls with creosote-exposed workers adjusted for age.
§Further adjusted for smoking.
∑OH-Flu, sum of 2-hydroxyfluorene and 3-hydroxyfluorene; ∑OH-Phe, sum of 1-hydroxyphenanthrene, 2-hydroxyphenanthrene, 3-hydroxyphenanthrene and 4-hydroxyphenanthrene; ∑2-,3-OH-Phe, sum of 2-hydroxyphenanthrene and 3-hydroxyphenanthrene; PAH, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon.