title: Urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites as biomarkers to woodsmoke exposure - results from a controlled exposure study.
abstract: Woodsmoke contains harmful components - such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) - and impacts more than half of the global population. We investigated urinary hydroxylated PAH metabolites (OH-PAHs) as woodsmoke exposure biomarkers in nine non-smoking volunteers experimentally exposed to a wood fire. Individual urine samples were collected from 24-h before to 48-h after the exposure and personal PM2.5 samples were collected during the 2-h woodsmoke exposure. Concentrations of nine OH-PAHs increased by 1.8-7.2 times within 2.3-19.3 h, and returned to baseline approximately 24 h after the exposure. 2-Naphthol (2-NAP) had the largest post-exposure increase and exhibited a clear excretion pattern in all participants. The level of urinary OH-PAHs, except 1-hydroxypyrene (1-PYR), correlated with those of PM2.5, levoglucosan and PAHs in personal PM2.5 samples. This finding suggests that several urinary OH-PAHs, especially 2-NAP, are potential exposure biomarkers to woodsmoke; by contrast, 1-PYR may not be a suitable biomarker. Compared with levoglucosan and methoxyphenols - two other urinary woodsmoke biomarkers that were measured in the same study and reported previously - OH-PAHs might be better biomarkers based on sensitivity, robustness and stability, particularly under suboptimal sampling and storage conditions, like in epidemiological studies carried out in less developed areas.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Trinidad
authors.affiliation: National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Erin N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Pittman
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Erin A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.affiliation: National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sjodin
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Russell L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Dills
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paulsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Simpson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000652:urine*; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000652:urine*; D012906:Smoke; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D052638:Particulate Matter; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012906:Smoke