Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin (CDT) as a Biomarker of Alcohol Abuse: A Retrospective Study of the Italian Drinking Trend among Drivers from 2016 to 2022.

Alcohol abuse is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Early diagnosis of alcohol abuse enables preventive intervention on the effects and risks associated with its consumption. Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is one of the most reliable biomarkers of chronic alcohol misuse. We retrospectively studied a population of 12,624 subjects who had their driving license suspended for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs from 2016 to 2022. The analytical determination of CDT was performed following a certified high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. Data were split by year, age and gender. The majority of subjects with positive %CDT were male, although the trend of positivity was similar between males and females. A steady increase in both the number of tests performed and the number of positives was observed over the years. Patients aged 41-50 years had the highest prevalence, followed by 51-60, 31-40 and 18-30 years. CDT continues to be a steady marker for diagnosis of alcohol abuse in the majority of cases. Data emerging from our study are in line with the increasing national trends on traffic accidents, injuries and deaths related to alcohol and drug DUI (driving under the influence), requiring the implementation of preventive measures to limit this ever-growing phenomenon.

Concentrations and co-occurrence of 101 emerging and legacy organic pollutants in the ultrafine, fine and coarse fractions of airborne particulates associated with treatment of waste from electrical and electronic equipment.

Occupational exposure to airborne particles can increase the development of morbidity, also because of the chemical composition of particulate matter (PM). In workplace, where manual and mechanical disassembly of electric and electronic equipment (EEE) take place, there are evident risks of respiratory exposure to a great number of different toxic organic compounds present in the electrical and plastic materials of which the equipment is made. Airborne particles are numerous, cover a wide range of sizes and are rich in toxic organic compounds. In the present work, a sampling program was conducted and ultrafine, fine and coarse airborne particles were collected in three EEE waste treatment plants. Afterwards, the extraction and analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), their nitro and oxygenated derivatives (nitroPAHs, oxyPAHs), organophosphorus compounds (OPEs), Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFASs) was performed. The percentage ratio of the mass of organic compounds and the mass of the ultrafine fraction of PM (PM0.1) was higher than those of the fine and coarse fractions. Even with low concentrations, the co-occurrence of numerous potentially toxic compounds capable of easily reaching other organs passing by the lung vasculature, through the lymph makes the working environment unhealthy.