Children’s exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Valencian Region (Spain): Urinary levels, predictors of exposure and risk assessment

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are pollutants that are released into the environment during incomplete combustion of organic matter and which can have a negative effect on human health. PAHs enter the human body mostly through ingestion of food or inhalation of tobacco smoke. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the internal levels of PAHs that children living in the Valencian Region (Spain) are exposed to. In total, we measured eleven biomarkers of exposure to naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, pyrene, and benzo(a)pyrene in the urine of 566 children aged 5–12. The analytical method was based on a liquid-liquid extraction of the PAH metabolites from the urine samples, followed by their determination by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. In addition, we used a questionnaire to collect the socio-demographic characteristics and 72 h dietary recall information of the participants in our study. Overall, we detected PAH metabolites in more than 78% of the children, with the exception of 3-hydroxyfluorene and 3-hydroxybenzo(a)pyrene, which were found in less than 37% of the analyzed samples. The most abundant biomarker found was 2-hydroxynaphthalene, with a geometric mean of 10 ng·ml−1. Reference values (RV95) ranging from 0.11 (4-hydroxyphenanthrene) to 53 ng·ml−1 (2-hydroxynaphthalene) in urine of Spanish children were derived from the present study. According to the statistical analysis, the factors that were significantly associated with the internal exposure to PAHs were province of residence, body mass index (BMI), children’s age, consumption of plastic-wrapped food, and dietary habits. The estimated daily intakes in geometric mean terms ranged from 5 (fluorene) to 204 ng·kg-bw−1·day−1 (naphthalene). Risk assessment calculations showed higher hazard quotients and hazard indexes for children aged 5–8 than those aged 9–12, but all were below 1. In conclusion, no potential non-cancer health risk due to PAH exposure was observed in children living in Spain.