Measurement of urinary Benzo[a]pyrene tetrols and their relationship to other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites and cotinine in humans

Abstract

Biomonitoring of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) typically uses measurement of metabolites of PAHs with four or less aromatic rings, such as 1-hydroxypyrene, even though interest may be in exposure to larger and carcinogenic PAHs, such as benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P). An improved procedure for measuring two tetrol metabolites of B[a]P has been developed. Using 2 mL urine, the method includes enzymatic deconjugation of the tetrol conjugates, liquid-liquid extraction, activated carbon solid phase extraction (SPE) and Strata-X SPE, and gas chromatography–electron capture negative ionization–tandem mass spectrometric determination. Limits of detection were 0.026 pg/mL (benzo[a]pyrene-r-7,t-8,t-9,c-10-tetrahydrotetrol, BPT I-1) and 0.090 pg/mL (benzo[a]pyrene-r-7,t-8,c-9,c-10-tetrahydrotetrol, BPT II-1). We quantified BPT I-1 and BPT II-1 in urine from a volunteer who consumed one meal containing high levels of PAHs (barbequed chicken). We also measured urinary concentrations of BPT I-1 and BPT II-1 in smokers and nonsmokers, and compared these concentrations with those of monohydroxy PAHs (OH-PAHs) and cotinine. Urinary elimination of BPT I-1 and BPT II-1 as a function of time after dietary exposure was similar to that observed previously for OH-PAHs. While the median BPT I-1 concentration in smokers’ urine (0.069 pg/mL) significantly differs from nonsmokers (0.043 pg/mL), BPT I-1 is only weakly correlated with cotinine. The urinary concentration of BPT I-1 shows a weaker relationship to tobacco smoke than metabolites of smaller PAHs, suggesting that other routes of exposure such as for example dietary routes may be of larger quantitative importance.