Determination of benzo[a]pyrene and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at trace levels in human tissues

A sensitive and rugged gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) method was developed for determining 11 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 4-g specimens of human lung, breast, and liver tissue. The method quantitation limit (MQL) was 0.01-0.02 ng/g for benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and six other five- and six-ring PAHs. The MQL was higher for four-ring PAHs because of their presence at trace levels in method blanks. The average MQLs for pyrene and chrysene were 0.05 and 0.03 ng/g, respectively. The method was applied to 200 human tissue specimens (89 lung, 68 breast, and 43 liver) obtained from patients during surgery. Quality-control results demonstrated average recoveries of 80% or better from reagent controls spiked at the 0.2-ng level and average recoveries from tissue fortified at the 0.25-ng/g level of 66-95%. The precision of the method was determined from duplicate analyses of specimens (16-38% RSD) and from duplicate GC-MS analysis of tissue extracts (8-17%RSD). Benzo[a]pyrene was detected at measurable levels in 87% of the lung specimens. This method makes possible the measurement of ambient levels of PAHs in small samples of human tissue such as those obtained by biopsy.