PAHs
Summary
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are chemical compounds that are byproducts of fuel burning. Human exposure to PAHs has been associated with skin, bladder and lung cancer, as well as adverse reproductive outcomes and childhood leukemias. We are currently in the process of developing biomarkers to detect exposure to PAHs by applying urinary products and protein adducts of reactive intermediates to exposed populations and investigating the relationship. This work has focused upon groups of workers who are exposed to different levels of PAHs, namely, coke-oven workers, asphalt workers, and diesel-exposed workers.
Updates
Previously, PAH exposure detection was inefficient and often difficult. We recently developed more sensitive and precise assays to measure PAH exposure in urine samples. The methods use GC-MS to measure volatile 2-ring, 3-ring, and 4-ring PAHs in urine and LC-MS/MS to measure hydroxylated urinary metabolites of 2-ring to 5-ring PAHs. These assays, which are easily performed and adapted in any research laboratory, will prove useful in future studies on PAH-exposed populations.
Selected Publications
Sobus JR, McClean MD, Herrick RF, Waidyanatha S, Onyemauwa F, Kupper LL, Rappaport SM (2009) Investigation of PAH biomarkers in the urine of workers exposed to hot asphalt. Ann Occup Hyg. Aug;53(6):551-60. PMCID: 2723215. [Abstract] [Full Text]
Sobus JR, McClean MD, Herrick RF, Waidyanatha S, Nylander-French LA, Kupper LL, Rappaport SM (2009) Comparing urinary biomarkers of airborne and dermal exposure to polycyclic aromatic compounds in asphalt-exposed workers. Ann Occup Hyg. Aug;53(6):561-71. PMID: 19602502. [Abstract] [Full Text]
Onyemauwa F, Rappaport SM, Sobus JR, Gajdosová D, Wu R, Waidyanatha S. J, Chromatogr B (2009) Using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to quantify monohydroxylated metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urine. The Journal of Chromatography B, Apr 15;877(11-12):1117-25. PMID: 19299209. [Abstract] [Full Text]
Sobus JR, Waidyanatha S, McClean MD, Herrick RF, Smith TJ, Garshick E, Laden F, Hart JE, Zheng Y, Rappaport SM (2009) Urinary naphthalene and phenanthrene as biomarkers of occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Occup Environ Med. Feb;66(2):99-104. PMID: 19017700. [Abstract] [Full text]
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