Wang Xiangtian, Lin Yan, Liu Xiaodong, Craig Emily A, Stapleton Heather M, Bergin Michael H, Zhang Junfeng Jim
Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States.
State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510120, China.
Environ Sci Technol Lett. 2025 Sep 8. doi: 10.1021/acs.estlett.5c00587.
Quantifying people's exposure to wildfires is essential for assessing related health risks. While hydroxyl metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are commonly used exposure biomarkers of combustion-originated air pollutants, methylated PAHs are more abundant in woodsmoke than other sources. Thus, urinary PAH carboxylic acids, which are metabolites of methylated PAHs, may serve as more sensitive biomarkers of wildfire exposure. In this exploratory study, we developed an LC-MS/MS method to simultaneously quantify hydroxylated and carboxylic metabolites of PAHs and methyl-PAHs in urine. This method was then applied to 56 urine samples collected from 8 campers before, during, and after a 4-hour exposure to campfire. Campers also wore silicone wristbands to monitor ambient PAHs. We found that 1-pyrenecarboxylic acid (1-PYRCA) levels increased significantly at 4 h (96.9%, 95% CI: 2.60-101%), 6 h (96.8%, 95% CI: 5.85-107%), and 8 h (92.5%, 95% CI: 3.59-99.2%), and returned to baseline levels at 24 h. In contrast, the campfire exposure did not significantly increase other urinary PAH metabolites. Wristband PAHs also significantly increased during the 4-hour exposure. These results suggest the use of urinary 1-PYRCA as a sensitive exposure biomarker for woodsmoke and potentially for assessing exposure to wildfires.
量化人们接触野火的情况对于评估相关健康风险至关重要。虽然多环芳烃（PAHs）的羟基代谢物通常被用作燃烧源空气污染物的暴露生物标志物，但甲基化多环芳烃在木烟中比在其他来源中更为丰富。因此，作为甲基化多环芳烃代谢物的尿中多环芳烃羧酸可能是更敏感的野火暴露生物标志物。在这项探索性研究中，我们开发了一种液相色谱-串联质谱法（LC-MS/MS），用于同时定量尿液中多环芳烃、甲基化多环芳烃的羟基化和羧酸代谢物。然后将该方法应用于8名露营者在4小时篝火暴露前、暴露期间和暴露后的56份尿液样本。露营者还佩戴硅胶腕带来监测环境中的多环芳烃。我们发现，1-芘羧酸（1-PYRCA）水平在4小时（增加96.9%，95%置信区间：2.60-101%）、6小时（增加96.8%，95%置信区间：5.85-107%）和8小时（增加92.5%，95%置信区间：3.59-99.2%）时显著升高，并在24小时时恢复到基线水平。相比之下，篝火暴露并未显著增加其他尿中多环芳烃代谢物。腕带监测的环境多环芳烃在4小时暴露期间也显著增加。这些结果表明，尿中1-芘羧酸可作为木烟暴露的敏感生物标志物，并可能用于评估野火暴露情况。
