Cohort-friendly protocol for the determination of two urinary biomarkers of exposure to pyrethroids and neonicotinoids using gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

摘要

Neonicotinoids (NEOs) and synthetic pyrethroids (PYRs) are active ingredients of commercial pesticides and/or insecticides with extensive indoor and outdoor applications, worldwide. Improved exposure metrics are warranted for NEOs and PYRs, if we are to better understand their human health effects. A cohort-friendly protocol for determining non-specific biomarkers of exposure to NEOs and PYRs, e.g. 6-chloronicotinic acid (6-CN) and 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA), respectively, in human urine voids was proposed. A series of optimization experiments were conducted to validate the bioanalytical protocol using gas chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-QqQ-MS/MS) in MRM mode. The method reached low detection limits for both analytes (0.075 mu gL(-1) for 6-CN and 0.050 mu gL(-1) for 3-PBA) in a short preparation and analysis time. The method used small initial urine sample volume (2mL), short extraction time (approximate to 240min for the batches of 32 samples) and instrumental analysis time (approximate to 14min) for both pesticide metabolites in a single run. This protocol could facilitate the assessment of population exposure metrics for these pesticides and their inclusion in health risk assessment.