Quantification of plasma and urinary levels of furan in healthy individuals.

Abstract

Furan is a colorless and volatile compound detected upto 100 ppb in a number of foods that undergo heat treatments, such as canned and jarred foods. After ingestion, furan is rapidly absorbed and extensively metabolized for excretion; however, if ingested at high dose in animals, furan metabolites, such as cis-2-butene-1,4-dial, may be retained in the liver and cause severe toxicity and carcinogenicity. However, the levels and effects of furan on humans have not been known, thus, we quantified the concentrations of furan in plasma and urine among 100 healthy individuals using SPME-GC/MS method. Study subjects were aged from 30 to 70 years and 50 % was women. Interestingly, furan was detected in 56 urine samples and 21 blood samples among 100 individuals. The average urinary levels of furan were 0.88 and 0.79 ppb for males and females, respectively. And the levels of plasma furan were 3.55 and 3.13 ppb in males and female, respectively. We assessed the association between liver enzyme activities and furan concentrations. Positive, but not statistically significant, associations were found between urinary furan levels and plasma AST, ALT or γ-GTP levels. To our knowledge, this is one of few reports to systematically measure the furan concentrations in human blood and urine. Low levels of both urinary and plasma furan may be due to a rapid turnover of dietary furan. Metabolic fate and potential toxicity of dietary furan need to be further investigated.