title: Urinary concentrations of PAH and VOC metabolites in marijuana users.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Marijuana is seeing increased therapeutic use, and is the world's third most-popular recreational drug following alcohol and tobacco. This widening use poses increased exposure to potentially toxic combustion by-products from marijuana smoke and the potential for public health concerns.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare urinary metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) among self-reported recent marijuana users and nonusers, while accounting for tobacco smoke exposure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Measurements of PAH and VOC metabolites in urine samples were combined with questionnaire data collected from participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) from 2005 to 2012 in order to categorize participants (≥18years) into exclusive recent marijuana users and nonusers. Adjusted geometric means (GMs) of urinary concentrations were computed for these groups using multiple regression analyses to adjust for potential confounders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adjusted GMs of many individual monohydroxy PAHs (OH-PAHs) were significantly higher in recent marijuana users than in nonusers (p<0.05). Urinary thiocyanate (p<0.001) and urinary concentrations of many VOC metabolites, including metabolites of acrylonitrile (p<0.001) and acrylamide (p<0.001), were significantly higher in recent marijuana users than in nonusers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found elevated levels of biomarkers for potentially harmful chemicals among self-identified, recent marijuana users compared with nonusers. These findings suggest that further studies are needed to evaluate the potential health risks to humans from the exposure to these agents when smoking marijuana.
authors.affiliation: Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States. Electronic address: bwei@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Binnian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States.
authors.forename: K Udeni
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Alwis
authors.affiliation: Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States.
authors.forename: Lanqing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States.
authors.forename: Liza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Valentin-Blasini
authors.affiliation: Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States.
authors.forename: Connie S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Sosnoff
authors.affiliation: Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research at the National Institutes of Health, United States.
authors.forename: Kevin P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Conway
authors.affiliation: Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States.
authors.forename: Benjamin C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Blount
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D002188:Cannabis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000652:urine*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000652:urine*; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000652:urine*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: Biomonitoring; Cannabis smoke; Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS); PAHs; Secondhand smoke; VOCs