posted on 2023-11-21, 15:36authored byGeorg Braun, Martin Krauss, Beate I. Escher
Human biomonitoring
studies are important for understanding adverse
health outcomes caused by exposure to chemicals. Complex mixtures
of chemicals detected in blood − the blood exposome −
may serve as proxies for systemic exposure. Ideally, several analytical
methods are combined with in vitro bioassays to capture
chemical mixtures as diverse as possible. How many and which (bio)analyses
can be performed is limited by the sample volume and compatibility
of extraction and (bio)analytical methods. We compared the extraction
efficacy of three extraction methods using pooled human plasma spiked
with >400 organic chemicals. Passive equilibrium sampling (PES)
with
polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) followed by solid phase extraction (PES
+ SPE), SPE alone (SPE), and solvent precipitation (SolvPrec) were
compared for chemical recovery in LC-HRMS and GC-HRMS as well as effect
recovery in four mammalian cell lines (AhR-CALUX, SH-SY5Y, AREc32,
PPARγ-BLA). The mean chemical recoveries were 38% for PES +
SPE, 27% for SPE, and 61% for SolvPrec. PES + SPE enhanced the mean
chemical recovery compared to SPE, especially for neutral hydrophobic
chemicals. PES + SPE and SolvPrec had effect recoveries of 100–200%
in all four cell lines, outperforming SPE, which had 30–100%
effect recovery. Although SolvPrec has the best chemical recoveries,
it does not remove matrix like inorganics or lipids, which might pose
problems for some (bio)analytical methods. PES + SPE is the most promising
method for sample preparation in human biomonitoring as it combines
good recoveries with cleanup, enrichment, and potential for high throughput.