Determination of urinary ortho- and meta-cresol in humans by headspace SPME gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.
ortho-Cresol (o-C) and meta-cresol (m-C) are minor urinary metabolites of toluene, a widely used chemical with neurotoxicological properties. A new assay for their determination in human urine is here proposed. Urinary cresol sulphates and glucuronates are submitted to acid hydrolysis, urine is neutralized, added with o-cresols-d8, and analytes are sampled in the headspace of urine by SPME using a polydimethylsiloxane fiber. Analysis is performed by GC/MS using, for separation, either a SupelcoWax10 (for o-C) or a chiral CP Cresol (for o-C and m-C) column. The method is very specific, with a range of linearity 0-5.0 mg/l, within- and between-run precision, as coefficient of variation, <15% and <19%, limit of detection of 0.006 mg/l for o-C and 0.007 mg/l for m-C. The procedure is applied to the quantification of cresols in urine from workers exposed to toluene and from subjects belonging to the general population.
Fustinoni
Silvia
S
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Milano and Istituti Clinici di Perfezionamento, Via S. Barnaba, 8-20122 Milano, Italy. silvia.fustinoni@unimi.it
Mercadante
Rosa
R
Campo
Laura
L
Scibetta
Licia
L
Valla
Carla
C
Foà
Vito
V
D003408:Cresols / Q000652:urine*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006868:Hydrolysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012492:Salts; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D003408:Cresols; D012492:Salts; C042041:3-cresol; C034047:2-cresol