3-(4′-Methylbenzylidene)camphor (4-MBC) – Determination of 3-(4′-Carboxybenzylidene)camphor and 3-(4′-Carboxybenzylidene)hydroxycamphor in urine by UPLC-MS/MS
Biomonitoring Method – Translation of the German version from 2024
Wolfgang Gries1 (Method development)Katja Küpper1 (Method development)
Gabriele Leng1 (Method development)
Tobias Hauke2 (External verification)
Gerhard Gilch2 (External verification)
Gerhard Scherer2 (External verification)
Thomas Göen3 (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)
Andrea Hartwig4 (Chair of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
MAK Commission5
1 Currenta GmbH & Co. OHG, CUR-SIT-SER-GS-BLM Institut für Biomonitoring, Chempark, Building Q18, 51368 Leverkusen, Germany
2 ABF – Analytisch-Biologisches Forschungslabor GmbH, Semmelweisstraße 5, 82152 Planegg, Germany
3 Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute and Outpatient Clinic of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Henkestraße 9–11, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
4 Institute of Applied Biosciences, Department of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Adenauerring 20a, Building 50.41, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
5 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 Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area (MAK Commission) developed and verified the presented biomonitoring method. The aim of this method is the selective and sensitive quantitation of the two main metabolites of the UVB filter 3-(4′-methylbenzylidene)camphor (4-MBC), 3-(4′-carboxybenzylidene)camphor (cx-MBC) and 3-(4′-carboxybenzylidene)hydroxycamphor (cx-MBC-OH), in urine. After adding deuterated internal standards (cx-MBC-d4 and cx-MBC-OH-d4), the samples are enzymatically hydrolysed. After extraction and enrichment by online SPE, the analytes are separated by liquid chromatography and analysed by tandem mass spectrometry. Good precision data with standard deviations below 5.5% for cx-MBC and below 6.5% for cx-MBC-OH, as well as good accuracy data with mean relative recoveries in the range of 90–110% for cx-MBC and 89–106% for cx-MBC-OH, show that the method provides reliable and accurate analytical results. The method is both selective and sensitive, and the limits of quantitation of 0.15 μg/l (cx-MBC) and 0.3 μg/l (cx-MBH-OH) are sufficient to determine background exposure in the general population.
