Formaldehyde, oxidative stress, and FeNO in traffic police officers working in two cities of northern Italy

Personal air formaldehyde (air-FA) was measured as risk factor of airways inflammation and oxidative stress (SO) induction. Overall, 154 police officers were enrolled from two differently urbanised Italian cities, Turin and Pavia. Urinary F2t-isoprostane (15-F2t-IsoP), a prostaglandin-like compound, was quantified as a biomarker of general OS in vivo and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) was measured for monitoring local inflammatory processes. Urinary cotinine was quantified as a biomarker of tobacco smoking exposure. Traffic police officers living in Turin showed an increased level of log air-FA (p < 0.001), equal to +53.6% (p < 0.001). Log air-(FA) mean values were 3.38 (C.I. 95% 3.33–3.43) and 2.84 (C.I. 95% 2.77–2.92) in Turin and Pavia, respectively. Log (air-FA) was higher in “outdoor workers” (3.18, C.I. 95% 3.13–3.24, p = 0.035) compared to “indoor workers”, showing an increase of +9.3%, even controlling for sex and city. The analyses on 15-F2t-IsoP and FeNO, both adjusted for log air-FA, highlighted that OS and inflammation were higher (+66.8%, p < 0.001 and +75%, p < 0.001, respectively) in Turin traffic police officers compared to those from Pavia. Our findings suggest that even low exposures to traffic-related emissions and urbanisation may influence both general oxidative stress levels and local inflammation.