Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2021 Sep 15:285:117258.
doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117258. Epub 2021 Apr 28.

Urinary metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons after short-term fine particulate matter exposure: A randomized crossover trial of air filtration

Jiazhang Shi  1 , Yan Zhao  1 , Lijun Xue  1 , Guoxing Li  1 , Shaowei Wu  2 , Xinbiao Guo  1 , Bin Wang  3 , Jing Huang  4
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Urinary metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons after short-term fine particulate matter exposure: A randomized crossover trial of air filtration

Jiazhang Shi et al. Environ Pollut. .

Abstract

Research on the relationship between short-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and urinary metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is sparse in the nonoccupationally exposed populations. A quasi-experimental observation of haze events nested within a randomized crossover trial of alternative 1-week real or sham indoor air filtration was conducted to evaluate the associations of urinary monohydroxy-PAHs (OH-PAHs) with short-term exposure to PM2.5 and PM2.5-bound PAHs. The study was conducted among 57 healthy college students in Beijing, China. PM2.5-bound PAHs and urinary OH-PAHs were quantified using gas chromatography coupled with a triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer. Linear mixed-effect models were applied to evaluate the association of urinary OH-PAHs with time-weighted personal PM2.5 and PM2.5-bound PAHs, controlling for potentially confounding variables. The results demonstrated that air filtration could markedly reduce external exposure to PM2.5 and PM2.5-bound parent, nitrated, and oxygenated PAHs. In the intervention trial, the urinary concentrations of 2-hydroxyfluorene (2-OH-FLU) and 9-hydroxyphenanthrene (9-OH-PHE) were elevated significantly by 16.5% (95% CI, 2.1%, 33.1%) and 37.9% (95% CI, 8.4%, 75.4%), respectively, in association with a doubling increase in personal PM2.5 exposure. Urinary 9-OH-PHE was also significantly positively associated with the increase in the sum of PM2.5-bound parent PAHs. Furthermore, the levels of urinary OH-PAHs such as 2-OH-FLU and 9-OH-PHE in the haze events were elevated by 31.1% (95% CI, 8.7%, 53.4%) and 73.5% (95% CI, 16.0%, 131.0%), respectively, in association with a doubling increase in personal PM2.5 exposure. The findings indicated that urinary 2-OH-FLU and 9-OH-PHE could serve as potential internal exposure biomarkers for assessing short-term PM2.5 exposure in nonoccupational populations.

Keywords: Air filtration; Internal exposure biomarker; PM(2.5); Urinary OH-PAHs.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources