Citation:

Phillips, K., A. Chao, R. Church, K. Favela, S. Garantziotis, K. Isaacs, B. Meyer, A. Rice, R. Sayre, B. Wetmore, A. Yau, AND J. Wambaugh. Suspect Screening Analysis of Pooled Human Serum Samples Using GC × GC/TOF-MS. ACS ES&T Engineering. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 58(4):1802-1812, (2024). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c05092

Impact/Purpose:

This paper analyzes 16 samples of pooled human serum via suspect screening analysis (SSA) methods. The sample pools were stratified by age (less than or equal to 45 years old and greater than 45 years old) and sex (Female and Male).Confirmation of substances was also performed. These methods identified 544 unique substances in all the pools. There were more than twice as many substances identified in females (472) than in males (271). Publicly-available data sources were collected and compiled to create a means to annotate the potential source of these substances in the serum samples. These sources were: endogenous, food/nutrient, drug, commerce, and contaminant. Substances identified in the serum samples could be mapped to one or multiple of these sources. This study aims to serve as a proof-of-concept for 1) exploring potential sources of chemicals in human blood and 2) assessing how NTA/SSA methods could be utilized in future human biomonitoring studies.

Description:

Humans interact with thousands of chemicals. This study aims to identify substances of emerging concern and in need of human health risk evaluations. Sixteen pooled human serum samples were constructed from 25 individual samples each from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Clinical Research Unit. Samples were analyzed using gas chromatography (GC) × GC/time-of-flight (TOF)-mass spectrometry (MS) in a suspect screening analysis, with follow-up confirmation analysis of 19 substances. A standard reference material blood sample was also analyzed through the confirmation process for comparison. The pools were stratified by sex (female and male) and by age (≤45 and >45). Publicly available information on potential exposure sources was aggregated to annotate presence in serum as either endogenous, food/nutrient, drug, commerce, or contaminant. Of the 544 unique substances tentatively identified by spectral matching, 472 were identified in females, while only 271 were identified in males. Surprisingly, 273 of the identified substances were found only in females. It is known that behavior and near-field environments can drive exposures, and this work demonstrates the existence of exposure sources uniquely relevant to females.

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