August 2, 2007

Analytical Chemistry

Urine Test Tracks Exposure To Diesel Exhaust

Quantitative analysis of 1-nitropyrene metabolites in urine could aid cancer risk studies

Amanda Yarnell

Urinary metabolites of 1-nitropyrene (1-NP), a major component of diesel exhaust, can be used as a biomarker to assess human exposure to this kind of environmental pollution, according to a new study (Chem. Res. Toxicol. 2007, 20, 999).

Diesel exhaust has been classified as a probable human carcinogen and nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have been fingered as one of the most likely culprits.

Akira Toriba of Kanazawa University, in Japan, and colleagues demonstrate that certain 1-NP metabolites are excreted in the urine of human subjects exposed to environmental levels of 1-NP. The researchers devised a highly specific and sensitive analytical method using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry to quantify 1-NP metabolites in urine samples. 

"These findings suggest that urinary 1-NP metabolites may be used as a representative biomarker for assessing exposure to diesel exhaust," the authors note. The biomarker is expected to aid the study of cancer risk associated with such exposure, they add.

Chemical & Engineering News

ISSN 0009-2347

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