Exposure of gasoline professionals to leaded gasoline in Asyut governorate

Background: Gasoline is a complex manufactured mixture that does not exist naturally in the environment and produced from petroleum in the refining process. Gasoline discussed in this profile is automotive gasoline used as a fuel for engines in automobiles and other vehicles. Unleaded gasoline was introduced in the greater area Asyut, and 10% of the total sales of gasoline were unleaded. There were no previous studies on pollution caused by gasoline exposure in Asyut governorate in Upper Egypt, so, in this study we try to concern on the effect of air pollution from automobile exhaust on hematological and biochemical parameters of professionals. Materials and methods: Hundred and twenty samples from professionals have been collected from Asyut Governorate; they divided into four groups each group contain thirty samples. 10 milliliter of venous blood sample was withdrawn, over EDTA, from each individual, to determine the values of hematological, biochemical parameters and blood-lead level. Results and discussion: According to the present study, it was found that there was a significant increase in blood-lead level, hemoglobin levels and white blood cells count in all of the exposed groups. On the other hand, creatinine level shows significant decrease but there were a significant increase urea level and increase in some liver function's levels (ALT and AST) in all tested groups. Conclusion: The exposure to gasoline caused some toxic lesions on some parameters (hematological and biochemical). It is also observed that enzyme activity (AST, ALT) increase significantly compared with control.