Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia 30341, United States.
Environ Sci Technol. 2020 Nov 3;54(21):13861-13867. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.0c03269. Epub 2020 Oct 12.
Terpenes are a class of volatile organic hydrocarbons commonly produced by vegetation and released into the atmosphere. These compounds are responsible for the scents of pine forests, citrus fruits, and some flowers. Human terpene exposure can come from inhalation, diet, smoking, and more recently, using e-cigarettes. Terpenes are present in tobacco smoke and are used as flavor chemicals in e-liquids. The health effects of terpenes are not widely known, though several studies have suggested that they may prove useful in future medical applications. We have developed a novel, high-throughput method of quantifying seven terpenes (α-pinene, β-pinene, β-myrcene, 3-carene, limonene, β-caryophyllene, and α-humulene) in human serum to aid human-exposure investigations. This method employs headspace sampling using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to detect and quantify five monoterpenes and two sesquiterpenes in the low parts-per-trillion to low parts-per-billion range. The intraday and interday variability (percent error) of the method are ≤2 and ≤11%, respectively. In addition, this method showed excellent recovery in human serum (between 80 and 120% for all analytes). The assay precision ranges between 4.0 and 11%. Limits of detection ranged between 0.032 and 0.162 μg/L. Using serum cotinine values to classify tobacco use showed that smokers have higher serum concentrations of six terpenes compared to nonusers. Terpene concentrations were 14-78% higher in smokers than nonusers. Our method can provide essential biomonitoring data to establish baseline exposure levels for terpenes in humans.
萜类化合物是一类挥发性有机碳氢化合物，通常由植物产生并释放到大气中。这些化合物是松树林、柑橘类水果和一些花卉的气味的来源。人类萜类化合物的暴露可能来自吸入、饮食、吸烟，以及最近使用电子烟。萜类化合物存在于烟草烟雾中，并被用作电子烟液中的香料化学品。萜类化合物的健康影响尚未广泛知晓，尽管有几项研究表明它们可能在未来的医学应用中证明有用。我们开发了一种新颖的、高通量的方法，用于定量分析人体血清中的七种萜类化合物（α-蒎烯、β-蒎烯、β-月桂烯、3-蒈烯、柠檬烯、β-石竹烯和α-葎草烯），以辅助人体暴露调查。该方法采用固相微萃取（SPME）与气相色谱-串联质谱联用的顶空采样，用于检测和定量分析低至万亿分之几到低至十亿分之几范围内的五种单萜类化合物和两种倍半萜类化合物。该方法的日内和日间变异性（百分比误差）分别≤2%和≤11%。此外，该方法在人体血清中显示出出色的回收率（所有分析物的回收率在 80%至 120%之间）。测定精度范围在 4.0 至 11%之间。检测限范围在 0.032 至 0.162 μg/L 之间。使用血清可替宁值来分类烟草使用情况表明，吸烟者血清中六种萜类化合物的浓度高于非使用者。与非使用者相比，吸烟者的萜类化合物浓度高出 14-78%。我们的方法可以提供重要的生物监测数据，以确定人体中萜类化合物的基线暴露水平。
