title: Elevated levels of mercapturic acids of acrolein and crotonaldehyde in the urine of Chinese women in Singapore who regularly cook at home.
abstract: Lung cancer is unusually common among non-smoking women in Southeastern Asia but the causes of this frequently fatal disease are not well understood. Several epidemiology studies indicate that inhalation of fumes from high temperature Chinese style cooking with a wok may be a cause. Only one previous study investigated uptake of potential toxicants and carcinogens by women who cook with a wok. We enrolled three-hundred twenty-eight non-smoking women from Singapore for this study. Each provided a spot urine sample and answered a questionnaire concerning their cooking habits and other factors. The urine samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for mercapturic acid metabolites of acrolein (3-hydroxypropylmercapturic acid), crotonaldehyde (3-hydroxy-1-methylpropylmercapturic acid), and benzene (S-phenylmercapturic acid), accepted biomarkers of uptake of these toxic and carcinogenic compounds. We observed statistically significant effects of wok cooking frequency on levels of 3-hydroxypropylmercapturic acid and 3-hydroxy-1-methylpropylmercapturic acid, but not S-phenylmercapturic acid. Women who cooked greater than 7 times per week had a geometric mean of 2600 (95% CI, 2189-3090) pmol/mg creatinine 3-hydroxypropylmercapturic acid compared to 1901 (95% CI, 1510-2395) pmol/mg creatinine when cooking less than once per week (P for trend 0.018). The corresponding values for 3-hydroxy-1-methylpropylmercapturic acid were 1167 (95% CI, 1022-1332) and 894 (95% CI, 749-1067) pmol/mg creatinine (P for trend 0.008). We conclude that frequent wok cooking leads to elevated exposure to the toxicants acrolein and crotonaldehyde, but not benzene. Kitchens should be properly ventilated to decrease exposure to potentially toxic and carcinogenic fumes produced during Chinese style wok cooking.
authors: Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors: Stephen S
authors: SS
authors: Hecht
authors: Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore; Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors: Woon-Puay
authors: WP
authors: Koh
authors: Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors: Renwei
authors: R
authors: Wang
authors: Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors: Menglan
authors: M
authors: Chen
authors: Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors: Steven G
authors: SG
authors: Carmella
authors: Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors: Sharon E
authors: SE
authors: Murphy
authors: Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America; Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors: Jian-Min
authors: JM
authors: Yuan
mesh_terms: D000111:Acetylcysteine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000652:urine*; D000171:Acrolein / Q000652:urine*; D000368:Aged; D000447:Aldehydes / Q000652:urine*; D044466:Asian People; D001554:Benzene / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000378:metabolism; D003296:Cooking; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012846:Singapore; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: C518631:3-hydroxy-1-methylpropylmercapturic acid; D000447:Aldehydes; D015415:Biomarkers; D002273:Carcinogens; C053003:S-phenyl-N-acetylcysteine; D000171:Acrolein; C012796:2-butenal; C001423:S-(3-hydroxypropyl)cysteine N-acetate; D001554:Benzene; D000111:Acetylcysteine