Microwave-assisted acid hydrolysis of toluene diamine conjugates in urine samples for biomarkers in toluene diisocyanate analysis

Toluene diamines (TDAs) in urine have been used widely to determine the amount of toluene diisocyanate (TDI) absorbed by humans. Conventional hydrolysis to prepare a sample of urine takes approximately 16h. An attempt is made to apply microwave-assisted heating (MAH) to reduce the duration of analysis. Urine collected from rats exposed to a mixture of 2,4- and 2,6-TDI was diluted with non-exposed human urine 1/1250-, 1/500- and 1/250-fold. The urine samples were hydrolyzed by both conventional heating and MAH. The hydrolysis efficiency obtained using MAH significantly exceeded that obtained using conventional heating. Hydrolysis by MAH required only 20min, 48 times faster than with conventional heating. The use of the MAH method in hydrolysis was demonstrated to be reproducible, timesaving and efficient technique in measuring the concentration of urinary TDAs.