Association between Occupational High-Temperature Exposure and the Biological Aging of Workers.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between occupational high-temperature exposure and accelerated biological aging. METHODS: A total of 140 male workers exposed to occupational high-temperatures and 207 male non-exposed control workers were selected as study subjects. Questionnaire surveys and health examinations were conducted. Biological age and organ-specific biological age were calculated using the Klemera-Doubal method. Generalized linear models were used to analyze the effects of occupational high-temperature exposure, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, and sleep duration on biological age (BA) acceleration and organ-specific biological age. RESULTS: Significant differences were observed between the exposed and control groups in length of service, systolic blood pressure, red blood cell count, albumin levels, urea, creatinine, BA acceleration, and liver-kidney BA acceleration ( P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, which showed a BA acceleration of 0.04 ± 1.34 years, the exposed group demonstrated significantly higher BA acceleration of 0.62 ± 1.31 years. After adjustment for covariates, workers exposed to high-temperatures exhibited significantly higher BA acceleration and liver-kidney BA acceleration than controls ( P < 0.001). High-temperature exposure and BMI were associated with BA acceleration, with a significant interaction between the two factors ( P < 0.05). High-temperature exposure, BMI, and smoking were identified as risk factors for BA acceleration, whereas sleep duration was a protective factor ( P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Occupational high-temperature exposure may accelerate biological aging. An interaction exists between occupational high-temperature exposure and BMI in relation to BA acceleration. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: available in www.besjournal.com.