![Sample our Physical Sciences journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/110819/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Physical-Sciences.jpg"})
Abstract
The carcinogenic potential of some PAHs leads to the necessity of expressive biological monitoring for people occupationally exposed to PAH. A highly automated, coupled-column, high performance liquid chromatography method for the simultaneous quantification of several chrysene and benzo[a]pyrene metabolites in urine of exposed subjects is presented. After enzymatic hydrolysis of the metabolites, the sample can be directly injected into the HPLC system. The instrumental set-up comprises an analytical column and a precolumn, connected via a 6-port switching valve. Clean-up and analyte preconcentration are automatically performed on the precolumn which is packed with copper-phthalocyanine modified silica. Afterwards, analytes are automatically transferred onto the analytical column where separation is carried out by elution with a methanol-water gradient. Detection of the analytes makes use of their natural fluorescence. Thus, clean-up and analytical separation require little time, making the method suitable for routine analysis in biomonitoring.