Changes in blood Cr level and its oxidative status among leather tannery workers of District Kanpur in North India

Abstract

Chromium (Cr) sulfate is used in the tannery industry as a basic tanning agent. Workers are directly exposed to the Cr due to unawareness and no safety protocols. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the oxidative stress of Cr in tannery workers of District Kanpur in North India. Two groups of the population were for the study, Group I included 50 directly exposed people employed in tannery industries, whereas Group II included 50 healthy people with no previous exposure to Cr. The con-centration of total Cr in blood samples was measured by Inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). Oxidative status was measured by antioxidant enzyme assays such as Catalase (CAT), Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) and Glutathione Reductase (GR). Statistical analysis observed a significant (p<0.001) increase of Cr concentration in Cr-exposed Group com-pared to controls which were not exposed to Cr. The level of CAT (9.73 ± 1.68 u/mg) was significantly (p<0.001) higher in Cr-exposed group as compared to control (6.00 ± 0.86 u/mg) while GPx (40.02 ± 5.43 u/mg) and GR (5.29 ± 1.59 u/gHg) concen-tration is significantly (p<0.001) lower in Cr-exposed group compared to control (59.71 ± 5.09 u/mg and 10.77 ± 2.32 u/g Hg, respectively. In Pearson correlation analysis, blood Cr level showed a significant correlation (p<0.05) with oxidative status. In Pearson correlation analysis, blood Cr level showed a significant correlation (p<0.05) with the oxidative status of the exposed population. The outcome of this study may help the early detection of hazardous impact of Cr on tannery workers, which will be crucial for reducing health risk and exposure.