Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Ksaverska c. 2, Zagreb, Croatia.
Toxicol Lett. 2012 Apr 25;210(2):174-81. doi: 10.1016/j.toxlet.2011.11.023. Epub 2011 Nov 30.
Human exposure to atrazine and other triazine herbicides results in urinary excretion of traces of parent compounds and of their metabolites formed by N-dealkylation or conjugation with mercapturic acid. In contrast to N-dealkylated metabolites, which are not compound-specific, the measurement of atrazine mercapturate and unchanged atrazine provides an unambiguous confirmation of exposure to this herbicide. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of these two compounds in a group of agricultural workers who may be considered representative for typical behaviour and procedures during the atrazine application in Croatia. The spot urine samples were collected at the beginning (samples A) and at the end (samples B) of a working day and 12h after exposure has ended (samples C). Atrazine and atrazine mercapturate were extracted from acidified urine samples (pH 2) with ethyl acetate and the extracts were analysed using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with a turbo ion spray (electrospray) ionization interface. The detection limits based on treatment of 2ml urine samples were 0.2ngml(-1) for both analytes. Atrazine was not detected in any of 27 analysed urine samples but traces of atrazine mercapturate were measured in about a third of pre-exposure and in all post-exposure urine samples in mass concentrations ranging from 0.3 to 10.4ngml(-1) (0.3 to 8.0μgg(-1) of creatinine). The metabolite concentrations in B and C group of post-exposure samples were not significantly different. The urinary atrazine mercapturate post-exposure concentrations were comparable to those reported for U.S. farmers engaged in a single field application of atrazine.
人接触莠去津和其他三嗪类除草剂后，尿液中会排泄出母体化合物及其 N-去烷基化或与硫代尿酸轭合形成的代谢物的痕迹。与非 N-去烷基化代谢物不同，后者不是特定化合物，莠去津硫代尿酸盐和未改变的莠去津的测量提供了接触这种除草剂的确凿证据。本研究的目的是调查一组农业工人的这两种化合物的水平，这些工人可能被认为是克罗地亚莠去津应用中典型行为和程序的代表。在工作日开始时（样品 A）、结束时（样品 B）和暴露结束后 12 小时（样品 C）收集点尿样。用乙酸乙酯从酸化的尿样（pH2）中提取莠去津和莠去津硫代尿酸盐，并用带有涡轮离子喷雾（电喷雾）电离接口的高效液相色谱-串联质谱法分析提取物。基于处理 2ml 尿样，两种分析物的检测限均为 0.2ngml(-1)。在 27 个分析的尿样中均未检测到莠去津，但在暴露前的约三分之一和所有暴露后的尿样中均测量到莠去津硫代尿酸盐的痕迹，其质量浓度范围为 0.3 至 10.4ngml(-1)（0.3 至 8.0μg g(-1)的肌酐）。暴露后样本 B 和 C 组的代谢物浓度无显著差异。暴露后尿液中莠去津硫代尿酸盐浓度与美国从事单一莠去津田间施药的农民报告的浓度相当。
