1-Pyrenol: A Biomarker for Occupational Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Abstract

A biological monitoring method using the major urinary metabolite of pyrene, 1-pyrenol, has been successfully used to assess the exposure of aluminum reduction plant workers to coal tar pitch-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The method used high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector. The net mean change between workers pre- and postshift urinary 1-pyrenol concentrations was seventeenfold greater than the net mean change found in controls. The data strongly indicated that the net change in urinary 1-pyrenol concentration in workers was greater than found in controls. Evidence for an effect due to smoking in this context was negligible. The data show a strong positive correlation between environmental pyrene and all 17 environmental PAHs that were analyzed and urinary 1-pyrenol, verifying that pyrene was an appropriate choice to use as a marker for coal tar pitch-derived PAHs.