Furan – Determination of furan in exhaled air by GC-MS/MS
Biomonitoring Method – Translation of the German version from 2024
Chris-Elmo Ziener1 (Method development)Charleen Otto1 (Method development)
Otto Lorenz Contreras1 (Method development)
Bernd Roßbach2 (External verification)
Kerstin Lüddens-Dämgen2 (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 Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Nöldnerstraße 40/42, 10317 Berlin, Germany
2 University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Institute of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Obere Zahlbacher Straße 67, 55131 Mainz, 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 method for the biomonitoring of furan exposure.
This method focuses on the determination of furan in human end-exhaled air. Samples are collected in 20-ml screw-top glass vials (headspace vials) into which the subjects exhale through a PTFE tube. The vials are then sealed using screw caps with PTFE-lined silicone septa. After enrichment of the furan from the gas phase by solid-phase microextraction (SPME), the extract is analysed by gas chromatography. Detection is performed using a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer with electron-impact ionisation in Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) mode. End-exhaled-air samples spiked with furan are used for external calibration.
The procedure has been comprehensively validated, and the reliability data have been confirmed by replication and verification of the procedure in a second, independent laboratory. Good precision and accuracy data show that the method provides reliable and accurate analytical results. The limit of quantitation of 0.06 ng furan/l end-exhaled air is sufficient to determine occupational exposure as well as exposure to furan after smoking or shortly after coffee consumption.
