Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. Licensee: Pirogov University.
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Evaluating the occupation-related harm to the health of ore mining workers using target protein analysis

Zaitseva NV1,4, Fadeev AG2, Goryaev DV2, Zemlyanova MA1,3, Peskova EV1, Galiulina AV5, Zakharinskaya ON5, Bulatova NI1
About authors

1 Federal Scientific Center for Medical and Preventive Health Risk Management Technologies of the Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare, Perm, Russia

2 Regional Office of the Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare of the Russian Federation for Krasnoyarsky Krai, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

3 Perm State National Research University, Perm, Russia

4 Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

5 Regional Clinical Hospital, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

Correspondence should be addressed: Marina A. Zemlyanova
Monastyrskaya, 82, Perm, 614045, Russia; ur.ksircf@mez

About paper

Funding: the study was carried out at the expense of the federal budget as part of a state assignment for the Federal Scientific Center for Medical and Preventive Health Risk Management Technologies of the Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare of the Russian Federation.

Acknowledgement: the authors express their gratitude to the staff of the Occupational pathology Department of the Regional Center for Occupational Pathology of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Clinical Hospital for their assistance in organizing and conducting research by the Federal Scientific Center for Medical and Preventive Health Risk Management Technologies (Department of Biochemical and Cytogenetic Research Methods).

Author contribution: Zaitseva NV — editing; Fadeev AG, Goryaev DV, Zemlyanova MA — study concept and design, editing; Peskova EV — study concept and design, literature data acquisition, manuscript writing; Bulatova NI, Galiulina AV, Zakharinskaya ON — data processing; all authors — approval of final version of the article, responsibility for consistency of all parts of the article.

Compliance with ethical standards: the study involved employees of a mining facility (copper-nickel production); it was conducted in accordance with international standards of medical practice (Declaration of Helsinki, revision of 2013, 2024) and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Federal Scientific Center for Medical and Preventive Health Risk Management Technologies (Minutes No. 4 of February 24, 2022).

Received: 2025-05-26 Accepted: 2025-06-06 Published online: 2025-06-25
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Exposure to harmful and dangerous factors at ore mining facilities poses health risks to workers that are associated with prolonged exposure to airborne chemicals in the work area. Realized, these risks undermine physical condition of people doing key ore mining jobs underground. Relying on the target protein analysis, this study aimed to assess the job-related harm to the health of ore mining workers resulting from exposure to metals airborne in the work zone. The participants were involved in copper-nickel ores mining. To evaluate the impact of metals from the working zone air on their health, we conducted chemical, proteomic, statistical, and bioinformatic analyses on the collected samples and data. With the mean per-shift exposure to metals of up to 0.2 mg/m³ (up to 4 times the MPC), the blood supernatant concentrations of cobalt, chromium, nickel, copper, and manganese increased by 1.4 to 2.6 times in the study group compared to the control group. Comparison of proteomics datasets revealed 33 significantly different protein spots. In 15 of them, the change in intensity was related to the increased concentration of the considered metals in the supernatant. Identification and analysis of proteins from these spots revealed their association with impairments in the functions of the nervous, cardiovascular, and digestive systems. The identified proteins were involved in the development of oxidative stress, metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders. Proteomic analysis improves the prediction and early prevention of occupational adverse outcomes among the ore mining industry workers.

Keywords: mining workers, metals, exposure, proteomic profiling, adverse outcomes, risk prognosis and prevention

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