2-Phenoxyethanol – Determination of phenoxyacetic acid and 4-hydroxyphenoxyacetic acid in urine by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS
Biomonitoring Method – Translation of the German version from 2023
Thomas Jäger1 (Method development)Michael Bader1 (Method development)
Laura Kuhlmann2 (External verification)
Thomas Göen2 (Head of the working group “Analyses in Biological Materials” of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; External verification)
Andrea Hartwig3 (Chair of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
MAK Commission4
1 BASF SE, Corporate Health Management, ESG/CB – H306, Carl-Bosch-Straße 38, 67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany
2 Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute and Outpatient Clinic of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Henkestraße 9–11, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
3 Institute of Applied Biosciences, Department of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Adenauerring 20a, Building 50.41, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
4 Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Kennedyallee 40, 53175 Bonn, Germany
Abstract
The working group “Analyses in Biological Materials” of the German Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area developed and verified the presented method for the biomonitoring of exposure to 2-phenoxyethanol, an important biocide. The method described herein allows for the determination of the two main metabolites of 2-phenoxyethanol, specifically phenoxyacetic acid (PhAA) and 4-hydroxyphenoxyacetic acid (4-OH-PhAA), in urine. The urine samples are mixed with diluted formic acid and the internal standards. The analytes are separated from matrix components by liquid chromatography and subsequently analysed by tandem mass spectrometry using electrospray ionisation. Quantitative evaluation is carried out via external calibration in ultra-pure water. Good precision data with standard deviations below 7.19% for PhAA and below 8.07% for 4-OH-PhAA as well as good accuracy data with mean relative recoveries in the range of 98.7–109% for PhAA and of 92.6–107% for 4-OH-PhAA show that the method provides reliable and accurate analytical results. The method is both selective and sensitive, and the limits of quantitation of 8.2 μg PhAA/l urine and 7.6 μg 4-OH-PhAA/l urine are sufficient to determine occupational exposure as well as background exposure of the general population to 2-phenoxyethanol.
