Levels of phenolic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Koreans' urine by LC-MS/MS

Abstract

Medicinal plants are widely used throughout the world. About 80% of the world's population relies on plant-derived medicines for their primary healthcare [1]. Also some of them are willingly used for culinary purposes or as raw materials for pharmaceutical products, cosmetics and herbal medicinal products. However, the chemistry and efficacy of many of these plants are relatively unknown [2]. Levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are generally low in fresh plants, but in grown in close proximity to urban pollution sources, levels of PAHs might be higher [2]. PAHs are products of the incomplete combustion of organic compounds, and man is exposed to PAHs by smoking, diet and environmental pollution. Several PAHs are classified as carcinogens. Because of their global occurrence in food and the environment, they are of toxicological and public concern. Urine samples for this study were collected from 1028 Korean adults. Urine samples were prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis and solid-phase extraction with Sep-pak cartridges. The analysis of PAHs was validated with blank urine by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry; we used blank urine because all the urine samples some metabolites contains of PAHs. The linearity was very satisfying for 17 PAH compounds, with a coefficient of correlation (r2) higher than 0.99. The limit of detections was 0.01 to 0.08 ng/mL, the accuracy was 80% to 120%, and the precision was lower than 20%. Detected PAH metabolites from 1028 adult urine samples included (mean ± SD) 1-naphthol (8.56 ± 20.16 ng/mL), 2-naphthol (8.77 ± 17.46 ng/mL), 2-OH-fluorene (0.81 ± 1.39 ng/mL), 3-OH-fluorene (0.23 ± 0.45 ng/mL) and 1-OH-IP (0.23 ± 0.60 ng/mL), respectively.