A novel facile method using polyetheretherketone as a solid phase extraction material for fast quantification of urinary monohydroxylated metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Abstract

A novel facile method using polyetheretherketone (PEEK) as a solid phase extraction (SPE) material to extract urinary monohydroxylated metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs) has been successfully demonstrated. Nine urinary OH-PAHs containing 2 to 5 benzene rings in their molecular structures have been quantified with a piece of 117 cm PEEK tubing (500 μm ID) for offline SPE followed by HPLC-FD. Limits of quantification for 4- and 5-ring OH-PAHs (e.g., 1-hydroxypyrene, 3-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene) were 0.6 μg L⁻¹ while for 2- and 3-ring congeners (e.g., hydroxylated phenanthrenes) they were 5.0 μg L⁻¹. This result is comparable to those of conventional methods whereas much less time is required for sample pretreatment (2.5 min), indicating the potency of PEEK as a promising SPE material for the fast pretreatment of urinary OH-PAHs. The analytical strategy using PEEK-based SPE will facilitate the high throughput analysis of urinary OH-PAHs demanded by PAHs risk assessment. Besides, since OH-PAHs with more rings (e.g., 3-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene) can be efficiently adsorbed to the PEEK material, this method will be especially helpful for the risk assessment of these congeners, which are regarded to have high carcinogenic potency.