The human health hazard most associated with oil spills is exposure to petrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocabons (PAH). Petrogenic PAH are unique to oil spills because they are heavily alkylated and or oxygenated and are different from pyrogenic PAH that arise due to incomplete combustion of fossil fuels e.g. benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P). B[a]P is a known human carcinogen and must be metabolically activated to exert its carcinogenic effects but little is known about the metabolism of petrogenic PAH. Gulf Coast Health Alliance; health Risks related to the Macondo oil Spill (GC-HARMS) is a community-based participatory research project in which gulf-communities have continued concern about seafood safety due to its possible contamination with petrogenic PAHs. As part of the GC-HARMS consortium we elucidated the metabolic fate of some petrogenic PAHs in human hepatoma (HepG2) cells and human small intestine (CaCO2) cells to mimic pathways of exposure due to ingestion. We identified a number of unique metabolites, which could act as signatures of human exposure to oil spills. We conducted a study to evaluate these biomarkers, in the urine of 40 exposed individuals from the gulf region cohort compared with 40 healthy controls from the Philadelphia area using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). The method used a long LC gradient and employed targeted and untargeted MS scans, in negative and positive mode, that allowed us to get a full picture of exposure to PAHs. Petrogenic and pyrogenic PAHs have been quantified in the two cohorts. Assessment of exposure to PAHs is important due to the widespread presence of PAHs in the environment and their toxicological relevance. Our findings support the usefulness of PAHs as potential biomarkers of non-occupational exposure.

Petrogenic and pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in human urine: comparison of their levels between two geographic regions

256th National Meeting (2018)

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