Biomarkers of exposure in urine of active smokers, non-smokers and vapers

The exposure to smoking related products has been evaluated through urine illness risk marker determination through the analysis of urine samples of smokers and vapers. Biomarkers and their metabolites such as N-acetyl-S-(2-cyanoethyl)-L cysteine (CEMA), N-acetyl-S-(3,4-dihydroxybutyl)-L-cysteine (DHBMA), N-acetyl-S-[1-(hydroxymethyl)-2-propen-1-yl)-L cysteine (MHBMA), N-acetyl-S-(3-hydroxypropyl)-L-cysteine (3HPMA), 2R-N-acetyl-S-(4-hydroxybutan-2-yl)-L-cysteine (HMPMA), and N-acetyl-S-(3-carboxy-2-propyl)-L-cysteine (CMEMA) together with nicotine and cotinine were identifed and quantifed by LC-HRMS and LC-MS/MS, and data found normalized to the creatinine level. One hundred two urine samples were collected from smokers, non-smokers, and vapers, spanning an age range from 16 to 79 years. Results obtained showed that CEMA was only detected in urine samples from smokers and MHBMA was in the same order of magnitude in all the urine samples analyzed. HMPMA was found in the urine of vapers at the same order of concentration as in non smokers. 3HPMA in vapers was lower than in the urine of smokers, presenting an intermediate situation between smokers and non-smokers. On the other hand, DHBMA in vapers can reach similar values to those found for smokers, while CMEMA shows concentrations in the urine of vapers higher than in the case of non-smokers and traditional smokers, requiring new research to link this metabolite to the use of electronic cigarettes and possible alternative metabolomic routes. In general, this study seems to verify that traditional smoking practice constitutes a major source of carcinogenic chemicals compared with substitutive practices, although those practices are not free of potential harm.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Enseñanza de las ciencias : revista de investigación y experiencias didácticas

Resumen basado en el de la publicaciónResumen en inglésEl desarrollo de la investigación sobre el aprendizaje de la ciencia en España se puede analizar bibliométricamente utilizando Enseñanza de las Ciencias como indicador, debido al nivel de incidencia de esta revista en investigadores con interés en la educación científica. Las referencias que se citan en los artículos han sido estudiadas, utilizando el modelo de Bradford, para analizar las fuentes principales y los autores más productivos. Se considera la evolución del tipo de fuentes y artículos que se citan durante el período de tiempo estudiado.ES

The use of mathematical models in the characterization of ethylene oxide condensate Surfactants by infrared and ultraviolet spectroscopy

A topological treatment of the surfactant molecules (DARC system) and a group contribution model were applied to study the correlation between structures of ethylene oxide condensates with nonylsphenol and tert-octylphenol and their spectral characteristics such as extinction coefficient of the molecular absortion band. Using the experimental values of the spectral characteristics of an unknown smaple of an ethylene oxide condensate surfactant and the information parameters, previously determined by the mathematical treatment of a key population, it is possible to obtain their average condensation degree

The chemical memory of smoking tobacco

The concentration in urine of N-acetyl-hydroxy-propyl-cisteine (3HPMA), an acrolein metabolite, has been employed as a marker of the risk of illness of smokers and the relative concentration of creatinine has been evaluated to verify the effect of moving from the practice of burning tobacco to nicotine vaping. From the results concerning the urine samples of 38 subjects, collected from 2021 to 2023 and analyzed by LC-MS/MS, corresponding to 5 active smokers, 13 previously heavy smokers who replaced traditional tobacco by vaping, and 20 non-smokers, a dramatic reduction was found in 3HPMA/creatinine in urine. 3HPMA varied from values of 2150–3100 µg gcreatinine-1 to levels of 225–625 µg gcreatinine-1 found for non-smokers, with the time decay described by the equation y = 0.3661x2 - 94.359x + 6246.4 (R2: 0.757), providing a time of approximately 10 years for tobacco memory after the cessation of the consumption of burned tobacco.The present study has been co-funded by “Contrato de investigación ESPANA SALUD-UNIVERSITAT DE VALENCIA para el desarrollo del Proyecto: Evaluación de marcadores en orina de riesgo para la salud de fumadores que hayan reemplazado el Tabaco tradicional por HNB o vapeo” (CPI-21-147) and the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund Operational Programme (ERDF) of the Valencian Region (2014–2020). The European Commission financed the analytical instruments used here through the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) Operation Program of the Valencian Region (2014–2020)Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version