Effects of atmospheric nickel on LH blood levels

Introduction: The nickel (Ni) present in urban air pollutant interferes with the functioning of the endocrine system altering the production the release, the transport the metabolism and the mechanism of activity. The purpose of the study is to verify whether occupational exposure to low of nickel (Ni) present in urban air may affect the LH values in outdoor workers performing different tasks of a large Italian city. Materials and methods: 164 subjects of both sexes were included in the study. We assessed the dosage of urinary nickel LH blood. We used statistical methods for description for comparison between medium (T test, Mann- Whitney U test and ANOVA) and for correlation (Pearson test and Multiple Linear Regression). Results: Urinary nickel is associated with female sex for all the statistical test adopted. Discussion: It can be assumed that occupational exposure to low doses of nickel present in pollution affects urban LH levels in female outdoor workers exposed.