Determination of urinary ortho- and meta-cresol in humans by headspace SPME gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

• Published in: Journal of chromatography. B, Analytical technologies in the biomedical and life sciences Analytical technologies in the biomedical and life sciences, 2005-03, Vol.817 (2), p.309-317
• Main Authors: FUSTINONI, Silvia, MERCADANTE, Rosa, CAMPO, Laura, SCIBETTA, Licia, VALLA, Carla, FOA, Vito
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Analytical, structural and metabolic biochemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Cresols - urine; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry - methods; General pharmacology; Humans; Hydrolysis; Medical sciences; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Reproducibility of Results; Salts; Sensitivity and Specificity
• ISSN: 1570-0232; 1873-376X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2004.12.029

ortho-Cresol (o-C) and meta-cresol (m-C) are minor urinary metabolites of toluene, a widely used chemical with neurotoxicological properties. A new assay for their determination in human urine is here proposed. Urinary cresol sulphates and glucuronates are submitted to acid hydrolysis, urine is neutralized, added with o-cresols-d8, and analytes are sampled in the headspace of urine by SPME using a polydimethylsiloxane fiber. Analysis is performed by GC/MS using, for separation, either a SupelcoWax10 (for o-C) or a chiral CP Cresol (for o-C and m-C) column. The method is very specific, with a range of linearity 0-5.0 mg/l, within- and between-run precision, as coefficient of variation,