Hydroxyl polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in human urine as biomarkers of exposure to PAHs

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which are typical persistent organic pollutants may induce lung and skin cancers in occupational settings. And the evaluation of the exposure to PAHs can provide useful data for epidemiological study and risk assessment of the pollutants. However, due to the complexity of exposure, urinary hydroxyl PAHs which are major metabolites of PAHs in human urine have been widely used as biomarkers of internal dose to evaluate the exposure to PAHs. The absorption, metabolism and the major forms of metabolites of PAHs in urine are reviewed in the paper. Furthermore several important biomarkers and factors that may cause the variation of metabolites excreted in urine are introduced.