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Cumulative Exposure Assessment for Trace-Level Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) using Human Blood and Plasma Analysis
Citation:
PLEIL, J. D., M. A. Stiegel, J. SOBUS, S. Tabucchi, A. J. GHIO, AND M. C. MADDEN. Cumulative Exposure Assessment for Trace-Level Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) using Human Blood and Plasma Analysis. Journal of Chromatography B. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 878(21):1753-1760, (2010).
Impact/Purpose:
The National Exposure Research Laboratory′s (NERL) Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) conducts research in support of EPA′s mission to protect human health and the environment. HEASD′s research program supports Goal 1 (Clean Air) and Goal 4 (Healthy People) of EPA′s strategic plan. More specifically, our division conducts research to characterize the movement of pollutants from the source to contact with humans. Our multidisciplinary research program produces Methods, Measurements, and Models to identify relationships between and characterize processes that link source emissions, environmental concentrations, human exposures, and target-tissue dose. The impact of these tools is improved regulatory programs and policies for EPA.
Description:
Humans experience chronic cumulative trace-level exposure to mixtures of volatile, semi-volatile, and non-volatile polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in the environment as by-products of combustion processes. Certain PAHs are known or suspected human carcinogens and so we have developed methodology for measuring their circulating (blood borne) concentrations as a tool to assess internal dose and health risk. We use liquid/liquid extraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and present analytical parameters including dynamic range (0–250 ng/ml), linearity (>0.99 for all compounds), and instrument sensitivity (range 2–22 pg/ml) for a series of 22 PAHs representing 2-ring through 6-rings. The method is shown to be sufficiently sensitive for estimating PAHs baseline levels (typical median range from 1 to 1000 pg/ml) in groups of normal control subjects using 1-ml aliquots of human plasma but we note that some individuals have very low background concentrations for 5- and 6-ring compounds that fall below robust quantitation levels.
URLs/Downloads:
Cumulative Exposure Assessment for Trace-Level Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Using Human Blood and Plasma Analysis (PDF, NA pp, 139 KB, about PDF)Journal of Chromatography B
