Using untargeted metabolomics for detecting exposome compounds

The exposome is the summary of all chemical and non-chemical exposures over an individual's lifetime that collectively describe all non-genetic factors that may influence phenotype. While advances in genomics have significantly improved the understanding of chronic disease, they have also highlighted the need for better characterization of exposure. Untargeted metabolomics should complement targeted methods for quantitative and reliable analysis of exposome compounds in biological matrices. Using an existing workflow consisting of untargeted instrumental acquisition, analyte annotation using library matching, unknown identification, and data visualization, environmental effects on endogenous metabolites can be assessed by accurate and comprehensive exposure analysis.