Assessing exposure to atrazine and its metabolites using biomonitoring.
BACKGROUND
Atrazine (ATZ) is the second most abundantly applied pesticide in the United States. When we assessed exposure to ATZ by measuring its urinary mercapturic acid metabolite, general population data indicated that < 5% of the population was exposed to ATZ-related chemicals (limit of detection < 0.8 ng/mL).


OBJECTIVE
The aim of our study was to determine if we were underestimating ATZ exposure by measuring its urinary mercapturic acid metabolite and if the urinary metabole profile changed with the exposure scenario.


METHODS
We conducted a small-scale study involving 24 persons classified as high- (n = 8), low(n = 5), and environmental- (n = 11) exposed to ATZ. Using online solid phase extraction high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, we measured nine ATZ-related metabolites in urine that included dealkylated, hydroxylated, and mercapturic acid metabolites.


RESULTS
We found that the urinary metabolite profiles varied greatly among exposure scenarios and among persons within each exposure scenario. Although diaminochlorotriazine (DACT) appeared to be the predominant urinary metabolite detected in each exposure category, the variation in proportion of total ATZ metabolites among persons was consistently large, suggesting that one metabolite alone could not be measured as a surrogate for ATZ exposure.


CONCLUSIONS
We have likely been underestimating population-based exposures by measuring only one urinary ATZ metabolite. Multiple urinary metabolites must be measured to accurately classify exposure to ATZ and its environmental degradates. Regardless, DACT and desethylatrazine appear to be the most important metabolites to measure to evaluate exposures to ATZ-related chemicals.
Barr
Dana B
DB
Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, USA. dbarr@cdc.gov
Panuwet
Parinya
P
Nguyen
Johnny V
JV
Udunka
Simeon
S
Needham
Larry L
LL
D000383:Agriculture; D001280:Atrazine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000652:urine; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*
D015415:Biomarkers; C405102:desethylatrazine; C526766:diaminochlorotriazine; D001280:Atrazine