Solid-phase microextraction of volatile organic compounds in headspace of PM-induced MRC-5 cell lines

Abstract

The exploration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by cell lines may be a powerful and non-invasive tool for the study of the health risk of human exposure to atmospheric particulate matter (PM). In this work, we developed a sensitive solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method (SPME-GC-MS) to analyze VOCs in breathed gas of PM2.5-induced human embryonic fibroblast cell line (MRC-5). A novel graphene oxide/polyaniline/polydopamine (GO/PANI/PDA) coating was prepared on a stainless steel wire via electrochemical deposition and self-polymerization for the first time. The GO/PANI/PDA coating exhibited high extraction efficiency, good thermal stability (> 380 ℃), excellent mechanical stability as well as long service time (> 150 times). Parameters that may affect the results were optimized systematically. Under the optimal conditions, VOCs including benzene series, aldehydes and alkane were detected with low limit of detection (0.2–2.0 μg L−1) and good correlation (correlation coefficients above 0.9922). The relative standard deviations of within-day and between-day were 1.1–8.4% and 0.2–11.2%, respectively. Satisfactory recoveries of 82–117% indicated good repeatability of the method. The method has been successfully applied for the determination of target VOCs in the headspace gas of PM2.5-induced MRC-5 cell. And it is expected to provide an alternative tool for the study of cytotoxicology of atmospheric particulates.