Concentrations and Profiles of Urinary Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Metabolites (OH-PAHs) in Several Asian Countries

Abstract

Concentrations of 12 hydroxylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs) were determined in 306 urine samples collected from seven Asian countries (China, India, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, and Vietnam) by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The total concentrations of OH-PAHs found in the seven Asian countries were in the following increasing order: Malaysia (median: 2260 pg/mL) < Japan (4030 pg/mL) < China (5770 pg/mL) < India (6750 pg/mL) < Vietnam (8560 pg/mL) < Korea (9340 pg/mL) < Kuwait (10170 pg/mL). The measured urinary concentrations of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-PYR) in samples from Malaysia, Korea, and Japan (∼ 100 pg/mL) were similar to those reported for North America and Western Europe. The concentrations of 1-PYR in urine samples from China, India, and Vietnam were 4-10 times higher than those reported for other countries, thus far. Among the 12 OH-PAH compounds analyzed, hydroxynaphthalene (NAP: sum of 1-hydroxynaphthalene and 2-hydroxynaphthalene) was the dominant compound (accounting for 60-90% of total OH-PAHs), followed by hydroxyphenanthrene (PHEN: sum of 2-hydroxyphenanthrene, 3-hydroxyphenanthrene, 4-hydroxyphenanthrene, and 9-hydroxyphenanthrene [3-16%]), 2-hydroxyfluorene (3-20%), and 1-PYR (2-8%). The total daily intakes (DIs) of PAHs were estimated based on the urinary concentrations of their metabolites. The DIs of naphthalene were found to be higher for populations in Korea, Kuwait, and Vietnam (> 10 μg/day) than those of the other countries studied (∼ 5 μg/day). The DIs of phenanthrene and pyrene (> 10 μg/day) in the populations of China, India, and Vietnam were higher than those estimated for the populations in the other countries studied (∼ 5 μg/day).

A community study of the effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites on heart rate variability based on the Framingham risk score

“…Using 1-OHP as the sole biomarker for PAH exposure could lead to uncertainties for assessing human exposure and the loss of other important information on PAH exposure. In this study, 1-OHP was in the lowest concentration among the four kinds of PAH metabolites, which was similar to those reported for the US population and Asian populations,19 21 24 and the correlation between 1-OHP and ΣOH-PAHs was lower in magnitude than among ΣOHNa, ΣOHFlu, ΣOHPh and ΣOH-PAH. The lowest concentration and the lower correlation with ΣOH-PAHs may be the reason why 1-OHP does not show significant association with HRV.…”

“…The concentrations of individual OH-PAHs and ΣOH-PAHs determined in our study were higher than the reference levels established for the US general adult population,19 control subjects in Central Europe20 and the general population in seven Asian countries including China (these levels should be interpreted with caution because of the small sample size available for each country) 21. Importantly, reported concentrations were not creatine-adjusted for the seven Asian countries, and thus the comparison between our results and results described for those countries is not direct.…”

Metabolism and excretion rates of parent and hydroxy-PAHs in urine collected after consumption of traditionally smoked salmon for Native American volunteers

“…Humans are exposed to PAHs mainly through ingestion or inhalation (Motorykin et al, 2015; Suzuki and Yoshinaga, 2007; Wang et al, 2012; Zhang et al, 2014), but dermal exposure is also possible (McClean et al, 2004). Once PAHs are inside the human body, they are metabolized by the family of CYP-450 enzymes to more water-soluble hydroxy-PAHs (OH-PAHs) and excreted via urine (Guo et al, 2013; Jacob and Seidel, 2002; Ramesh et al, 2004). Some portion of unmetabolized PAHs are also excreted via urine (Campo et al, 2007), however the main route of excretion is feces (Bouchard and Viau, 1998; Ramesh et al, 2004), especially for the higher molecular weight PAHs.…”

Procarcinogens – Determination and Evaluation by Yeast-Based Biosensor Transformed with Plasmids Incorporating RAD54 Reporter Construct and Cytochrome P450 Genes

“…In Vietnam, a great number of toxic substances, including carcinogens and procarcinogens, e.g. pesticides [7], cadmium, arsenic [8, 9], aflatoxins [10, 11], PAHs [12–14], etc., from industrial and agricultural activities, food production, and healthcare services have been released into the environment in recent years. In 2014, 194 food poisoning outbreaks were reported to the Vietnam Food Administration (VFA), affecting over 5000 people [15].…”