Top

Published in:

01-01-2014 | Original Article

Presence of appreciable amounts of ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and diethylene glycol in human urine of healthy subjects

Authors: Amin Wurita, Osamu Suzuki, Koutarou Hasegawa, Kunio Gonmori, Kayoko Minakata, Itaru Yamagishi, Hideki Nozawa, Kanako Watanabe

Published in: Forensic Toxicology | Issue 1/2014

Abstract

In a previous study, we found that appreciable amounts of ethylene glycol (EG), propylene glycol (PG), and diethylene glycol (DEG) were present in the blood of nonoccupational healthy humans. In this study, we measured the three glycols in the urine of healthy subjects by the same isotope dilution gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method, and found the concentrations to be much higher than those in blood. The concentrations of EG, PG, and DEG in urine samples (mean ± standard deviation) obtained from 23 subjects at random were 604 ± 360, 5,450 ± 9,290, and 59.0 ± 49.3 ng/ml, respectively. These values were 9.44, 30.1, and 5.31 times higher than those in whole blood samples, respectively. The much higher concentrations of the three glycols found in urine samples of nonoccupational healthy humans suggest that the three glycols, once incorporated into the human body, are rapidly excreted into urine. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the presence of relatively high concentrations of EG, PG, and DEG in urine of healthy human subjects.

Baselt RC (2004) Disposition of toxic drugs and chemicals in man, 7th edn. Biomedical Publications, Foster, pp 332–333, 425–428, 960–961

Wurita A, Suzuki O, Hasegawa K, Gonmori K, Minakata K, Yamagishi I, Nozawa H, Watanabe K (2013) Sensitive determination of ethylene glycol, propylene glycol and diethylene glycol in human whole blood by isotope dilution gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, and the presence of appreciable amounts of the glycols in blood of healthy subjects. Forensic Toxicol 31:272–280CrossRef

Porter WH, Rutter PW, Yao HH (1999) Simultaneous determination of ethylene glycol and glycolic acid in serum by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. J Anal Toxicol 23:591–597PubMedCrossRef

Maurer HH, Peters FT, Paul LD, Kraemer T (2001) Validated gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric assay for determination of antifreezes ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol in human plasma after microwave-assisted pivalylation. J Chromatogr B 754:401–409CrossRef

Rasanen I, Viinamäki J, Vuori E, Ojanperä I (2010) Headspace in-tube extraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry for the analysis of hydroxylic methyl-derivatized and volatile organic compounds in blood and urine. J Anal Toxicol 34:113–121PubMedCrossRef

Gembus V, Goullé J-P, Lacroix C (2002) Determination of glycols in biological specimens by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. J Anal Toxicol 26:280–285PubMedCrossRef

Van Hee P, Neels H, De Doncker M, Vrydags N, Schattemann K, Uyttenbroeck W, Hamers N, Himpe D, Lambert W (2004) Analysis of γ-hydroxybutyric acid, DL-lactic acid, glycolic acid, ethylene glycol and other glycols in body fluids by a direct injection gas chromatography–mass spectrometry assay for wide use. Clin Chem Lab Med 42:1341–1345PubMed

Meyer MR, Weber AA, Maurer HH (2011) A validated GC–MS procedure for fast, simple, and cost-effective quantification of glycols and GHB in human plasma and their identification in urine and plasma developed for emergency toxicology. Anal Bioanal Chem 400:411–414PubMedCrossRef

Pietracci E, Bermejo A-M, Álvarez I, Cabarcos P, Balduini W, Tabernero M-J (2013) Simultaneous determination of new-generation antidepressants in plasma by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Forensic Toxicol 31:124–132CrossRef

10.

Nakazono Y, Tsujikawa K, Kuwayama K, Kanamori T, Iwata YT, Miyamoto K, Kasuya F, Inoue H (2013) Differentiation of regioisomeric fluoroamphetamine analogs by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Forensic Toxicol 31:241–250CrossRef

11.

Shima N, Katagi M, Kamata H, Matsuta S, Nakanishi K, Zaitsu K, Kamata T, Nishioka H, Miki A, Tatsuno M, Sato T, Tsuchihashi H, Suzuki K (2013) Urinary excretion and metabolism of the newly encountered designer drug 3,4-dimethylmethcathinone in humans. Forensic Toxicol 31:101–112CrossRef

12.

Zaitsu K, Miyagawa H, Sakamoto Y, Matsuta S, Tsuboi K, Nishioka H, Katagi M, Sato T, Tatsuno M, Tsuchihashi H, Suzuki K, Ishii A (2013) Mass spectrometric differentiation of the isomers of mono-methoxyethylamphetamines and mono-methoxydimethylamphetamines by GC–EI–MS–MS. Forensic Toxicol 31:292–300CrossRef

Title: Presence of appreciable amounts of ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and diethylene glycol in human urine of healthy subjects
Authors: Amin Wurita
Osamu Suzuki
Koutarou Hasegawa
Kunio Gonmori
Kayoko Minakata
Itaru Yamagishi
Hideki Nozawa
Kanako Watanabe
Publication date: 01-01-2014
Publisher: Springer Japan
Published in: Forensic Toxicology / Issue 1/2014
Print ISSN: 1860-8965
Electronic ISSN: 1860-8973
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-013-0206-5

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Presence of appreciable amounts of ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and diethylene glycol in human urine of healthy subjects

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2014

Time-course profile of urinary excretion of intravenously administered α-pyrrolidinovalerophenone and α-pyrrolidinobutiophenone in a human

Synthetic cannabinoids abused in South Korea: drug identifications by the National Forensic Service from 2009 to June 2013

Development of ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction–large volume injection–gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for determination of pyrethroid metabolites in brain of cypermethrin-treated rats

Occurrence of postmortem production of ethylene glycol and propylene glycol in human specimens

Recently abused synthetic cathinones, α-pyrrolidinophenone derivatives: a review of their pharmacology, acute toxicity, and metabolism

Fentanyl: cause of death or incidental finding? Postmortem peripheral blood concentrations with and without documented transdermal patch use