Development of a simple and rapid method for determination of trans, trans-Muconic Acid in human urine using PDLLME preconcentration and HPLC–UV detection

Abstract

Benzene is a known human carcinogen and monitoring its exposure is very important. trans, trans-Muconic Acid (tt-MA) is an open-ring metabolite product proposed by related regulatory bodies as the best biomarker of benzene exposure. In this study, a new, simple and rapid method was developed for determination of tt-MA in a urine sample using partitioned dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction technique coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography–UV detection. Under the optimal condition, 2000 µL of tetrahydrofuran and 200 µL chloroform were used as disperser and extraction solvent, respectively, for 5 mL sample containing the target analyte. The method was linear in the range of 0.001–10 mg L−1. Method LOD, LOQ, relative standard deviation (RSD) for 3 days and under three concentrations and relative recovery were obtained 0.11 μg L−1, 0.83 µg L−1, 2.02–3.96% and 86–102%, respectively. Therefore, the proposed method with high recovery and easy application is recommended to be used to detect tt-MA in human urine samples.