Determination of trans,trans‐muconic acid in workers' urine through ultra‐performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract

A novel method for the biological monitoring of benzene-exposed workers has been developed through ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. The method uses trans,trans-muconic acid in urine as the benzene-exposure biomarker. The method was developed using a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer with enough sensitivity to facilitate diluting and injecting the urine samples directly, rather than performing a solid-phase extraction procedure as is common in the available protocols. Moreover, compared with a conventional high-pressure liquid chromatography system, the separation power provided by the ultra-performance liquid chromatography system allows a 10-fold reduction in run time. The method was adjusted to a dynamic range of between 198.9 and 4916.7 µg/L to cover the biological exposure index of trans,trans-muconic acid in urine. Also, the method demonstrated intra-day and inter-day precision at 98%, and accuracy within an acceptable range of 101 ± 8%. The method has been used to quantify various types of urine samples, such as workers' urine and inter-laboratory proficiency tests. Depending on the sample, the quantified levels ranged from less than the limit of quantitation to 3836.7 µg/L. No levels exceeding the calibration range were detected in the urine of workers, and the reported concentrations in urine for the proficiency tests were, as expected, based on known values. Moreover, the new method using sample dilution and faster chromatographic run was more effective, facilitating fast communication of results, as needed, to decision-makers.

A Nanoprobe Based on Gated Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for The Selective and Sensitive Detection of Benzene Metabolite t,t‐Muconic Acid in Urine

“…Different analytical methods have been reported for the determination of t,t‐MA based in liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry (HPLC‐MS), liquid chromatography‐ultraviolet spectroscopy (HPLC‐UV) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). However, these analytical methods are usually high costs, need trained personnel, are not suitable for in situ measurements and use hazardous organic solvents [16–26] . For these reasons, the development of reliable, selective and sensitive methods for the rapid and in situ detection of t,t‐MA is of importance.…”

“…However,these analytical methods are usually high costs, need trainedp ersonnel,a re not suitable for in situ measurements and use hazardous organic solvents. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] For these reasons, the development of reliable, selective and sensitivem ethods for the rapid and in situ detection of t,t-MA is of importance.A tt his respect, very recently, the use of nanostructured materials for the detection of benzene and other aromatic compounds has been reported. [27,28] From another point of view,a zacryptands are supramolecular metal complexes that are constituted by an organic core (azacryptand) with two coordinated metal ions.…”

“…Ta king into account the high selectivity found and the low limit of detection of S4 toward t,t-MA (see Table S5 for ac omparisonoft he sensing features of S4 with the traditional methods reported in the literature [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] ), we take as tep forward and evaluated possible use of the sensing nanoparticles to determine t,t-MA in urine. For this purpose, urine was spiked with known amounts of t,t-MA and the concentration was determined using S4 nanoparticles by meanso facalibration curve in the same media( limit of detection of 0.017 mm fort ,t-MA in urine was determined).…”

Benzeno: reflexos sobre a saúde pública, presença ambiental e indicadores biológicos utilizados para a determinação da exposição

“…O ttAM é um indicador sensível à exposição mesmo às baixas concentrações ambientais. No entanto, a utilização deste ácido como indicador biológico apresenta certa fragilidade, uma vez que já é conhecido uma série de interferentes que fazem os valores destes aumentar [116][117][118] , como a ingestão de ácido sórbico e seus sais, muito utilizados na indústria alimentícia 119,120 , e de bebida alcoólica 121 , o tabagismo 6,122 , ou a exposição simultânea ao tolueno 123,124 e aos hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos (HPAs) 16,125 .…”

“…Existem diversas técnicas preconizadas para a determinação do ttAM, como a cromatografia gasosa com detecção por espectrometria de massas (CG-MS) ou por ionização em chama (CG-FID), a eletroforese capilar e a cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência com detecção por absorção no UV (HPLC-UV) ou espectrometria de massas (HPLC-MS) ou espectrometria de massas sequencial (HPLC-MS/MS) [115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127] . As duas primeiras técnicas supracitadas têm como desvantagem a necessidade de uma etapa de derivatização, que é um procedimento dispendioso, demorado e com rendimento variável 115 .…”