ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Long-term immunity alterations in the employees of the high hydrogen sulfide content gas condensate processing facility

Boiko OV, Dotsenko YuI
About authors

Astrakhan State Medical University, Astrakhan, Russia

Correspondence should be addressed: Oksana V. Boiko
Bakinskaya, 121, 414000, Astrakhan, Russia; ur.liam@80okyobo

About paper

Author contribution: Boiko OV — study concept and design, data acquisition and processing; Dotsenko YuI — data acquisition and processing; all the authors — approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for integrity of all article sections.

Compliance with ethical standards: the study was approved by the Ethics Commitee of the municipal outpatient clinic № 8 (protocol № 15 dated November 21, 2020); the informed consent was submitted by all study participants.

Received: 2021-11-30 Accepted: 2021-12-13 Published online: 2021-12-18
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The current measures for protection of the gas processing plant employees cannot fully prevent the impact of pollutants. Evaluation of the immune system is one of the methods for monitoring of the employees' health, and testing the system of measures used to improve the working conditions. The study was aimed to identify alterations in the immune status of the employees at the gas processing and high hydrogen sulfide content condensate processing facility depending on their working experience. The working environment and the employees' immune system were evaluated by standard methods. Pollutants were detected with the Bruel & Kjaer 1302 Multi-Gas Monitor, and the Tsvet-550 gas chromatographer. A total of 160 employees and 81 controls (blood donors of the regional blood transfusion station) were surveyed. The immune system was evaluated using the System 9000 Plus hematological analyser, Cyto FLEX LX flow cytometer, UNICO 2100UV specrophotometer, and KFK-3-03-ZОМЗ photometer. It was concluded that the existing complex of occupational and industrial hazards affects the immune status of the main production unit employees, which is reflected in the decreased CD20 levels and increased CD8 levels along with the constant levels of CD4. Correlations were revealed between the immuniglobuline level alterations, decrease in the phagocytic index and phagocytic number, as well in lysozyme activity, and the working experience. Pollutant exposure results in altered immunity of the employees, which could be considered the adaptation mechanism.

Keywords: production factors, pollutants, immunological indicators

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