[Correlation study of occupational ionizing radiation exposure and human metabolic index abnormalities based on Lasso variable selection].

Objective

To investigate the correlation between occupational ionizing radiation exposure and abnormal metabolic indicators, providing a basis for assessing the health risks of occupational ionizing radiation workers and establishing a risk prediction model for chronic metabolic diseases.

Methods

In January 2023, 7708 individuals were randomly selected from the occupational health examination data in Zhejiang Province. After excluding 16 individuals due to record errors, 2698 on-the-job workers exposed to ionizing radiation from 2020 to 2021 were selected as the exposure group, 2027 pre-employment workers exposed to ionizing radiation from 2016 to 2022 were selected as the pre-employment control group, and 2967 non-ionizing radiation workers from 2016 to 2022 were selected as the control group. Demographic data, blood routine, urine routine, biochemical indicators, and peripheral blood lymphocyte micronucleus rate of each group were collected. One-way ANOVA and rank sum test were used for comparison of indicators. The exposure group was divided into different groups based on age, exposure duration, and body mass index (BMI), and the correlation between indicators and occupational ionizing radiation was analyzed. Lasso variable selection was conducted by constructing a penalty coefficient (λ), and a complete regression model was established.

Results

There were statistically significant differences in indicators such as blood pressure, heart rate, and average hemoglobin concentration between the exposure group and the control group, as well as the pre-employment control group (P<0.05). Through Lasso variable selection, 19 indicators including exposure length, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), body weight, body mass index (BMI), urine pH value, red blood cell count, microscopic white blood cells, casts, absolute value of monocytes, mean corpuscular volume of red blood cells, mean hemoglobin concentration, alkaline phosphatase, albumin-to-globulin ratio, total bile acid, α-L-fucosidase, urea, creatinine, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). There were statistically significant differences in exposure length, SBP, DBP, body weight, BMI, microscopic white blood cells, casts, albumin-to-globulin ratio, total bile acid, α-L-fucosidase, urea, creatinine, LDL-C, and mean corpuscular volume of red blood cells among workers of different ages in the exposure group (P<0.05) ; there were statistically significant differences in SBP, DBP, body weight, BMI, microscopic white blood cells, casts, albumin-to-globulin ratio, total bile acid, α-L-fucosidase, urea, creatinine, LDL-C, and mean corpuscular volume of red blood cells among workers with different exposure durations (P<0.05) ; there were statistically significant differences in exposure length, SBP, DBP, body weight, BMI, red blood cells, microscopic white blood cells, casts, albumin-to-globulin ratio, total bile acid, α-L-fucosidase, urea, creatinine, LDL-C, absolute value of monocytes, mean corpuscular volume of red blood cells, and mean hemoglobin concentration among workers with different BMIs (P<0.05) .

Conclusion

Occupational ionizing radiation is associated with abnormal metabolic indicators such as blood pressure, heart rate, total bile acid, α-L-fucosidase, urea, and creatinine in the human body. More attention should be paid to the risk of chronic metabolic diseases among workers exposed to ionizing radiation.