URINARY 2-HYDROXYFLUORENE AND 1-HYDROXYPYRENE LEVELS IN SMOKERS AND NONSMOKERS IN JAPAN AND THAILAND

Abstract

2-Hydroxyfluorene (2-OHF) and 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) in urine samples of smokers and nonsmokers were determined separately by using two high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems with fluorescence detection. Urine samples were collected from the subjects who lived in Japan and Thailand, and were not occupationally exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The mean concentrations of 2-OHF and 1-OHP of Thai smokers (0.75 and 3.03 μmol/mol creatinine) and nonsmokers (0.22 and 0.91 μmol/mol creatinine) were both higher than those of Japanese smokers (0.26 and 0.12 μmol/mol creatinine) and nonsmokers (0.04 and 0.06 μmol/mol creatinine), respectively. The difference between smokers and nonsmokers was more significant for 2-OHF than for 1-OHP, reflecting the higher intake of fluorene in the vapor phase by the smoking. Moreover, the higher urinary levels of both 2-OHF and 1-OHP were observed in Thai nonsmokers than those in Japanese nonsmokers, suggesting the higher background exposure to PAHs of Thai subjects.

Keywords:

• biomarker
• 2-hydroxyfluorene
• 1-hydroxypyrene
• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on the Priority Areas (no. 14042219) and for Young Scientists (B) (no. 15790077) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Sciences and Technology of Japan. The research was also supported by the Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant from the Japan Science Society (no. 14-130)

Notes

*Significantly different from nonsmoker (p < .05)

**significantly different from nonsmoker (p < .01)

***significantly different from nonsmoker (p < .001).