Determination of Benzo[a]pyrene and Other Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) at Trace Levels in Human Tissues

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Published: Journal of Analytical Toxicology, ISSN 0146-4760, Volume 24, Number 8, November/December, pp. 670-677

Determination of Benzo[a]pyrene and Other Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) at Trace Levels in Human Tissues

James B. Beach, Edo Pellizzari*, Jeffery T. Keever, and Linda Ellis
Research Triangle Institute, P.O. Box 12194, 3040 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709
A sensitive and rugged gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric (GC–MS) method was developed for determining 11 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 4-g specimens of human lung, breast, and liver tissue. The method quantitation limit (MQL) was 0.01–0.02 ng/g for benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and six other five- and six-ring PAHs. The MQL was higher for four-ring PAHs because of their presence at trace levels in method blanks. The average MQLs for pyrene and chrysene were 0.05 and 0.03 ng/g, respectively. The method was applied to 200 human tissue specimens (89 lung, 68 breast, and 43 liver) obtained from patients during surgery. Quality-control results demonstrated average recoveries of 80% or better from reagent controls spiked at the 0.2-ng level and average recoveries from tissue fortified at the 0.25-ng/g level of 66–95%. The precision of the method was determined from duplicate analyses of specimens (16–38%RSD) and from duplicate GC–MS analysis of tissue extracts (8–17%RSD). Benzo[a]pyrene was detected at measurable levels in 87% of the lung specimens. This method makes possible the measurement of ambient levels of PAHs in small samples of human tissue such as those obtained by biopsy.

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