A minimal-invasive method for systemic bio-monitoring of the environmental pollutant phenanthrene in humans: Thermal extraction and gas chromatography − mass spectrometry from 1 mL capillary blood

Phenanthrene is present in numerous environmental media and serves as a model substrate for the biomonitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). PAH exposure studies are commonly focused on urinary metabolites, concentrations of which are dependent on absorption, biotransformation and excretion. Monitoring of unmetabolized PAHs in blood would allow more reliable exposure assessment, but requires invasive sampling and extensive sample preparation. We describe the analysis of phenanthrene in 1 μL capillary blood using thermal extraction (TE) combined with gas chromatography − mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Less invasive sampling of 1 μL capillary blood does not require the assistance of medical staff. Compared to previous studies, analysis time was improved significantly by TE due to minimization of sample preparation steps. The evaluate method was applied successfully to the monitoring of phenanthrene blood levels. This is the first report presenting the pharmacokinetics of unmetabolized PAHs in human.