Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Influence of pesticide physicochemical properties on the association between plasma and hair concentration

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although the relationship between chemical intake and resulting concentration in hair remains incompletely elucidated, the transfer from blood to hair bulb living cells is generally considered the main route of incorporation. The present work investigated the correlation between blood and hair concentration of 23 pesticides/metabolites from different chemical classes in rats submitted to chronic controlled exposure. Long-Evans rats were administered pesticides by gavage three times per week over a 90-day period. After hair sample decontamination, pulverization, and extraction, compounds were analyzed by gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Blood was collected at sacrifice, immediately turned into plasma, and analyzed after extraction for the same compounds by GC-MS/MS. The data obtained for all the investigated compounds demonstrated significant association between plasma and hair concentrations (P value of 2.97E−45 and R Pearson of 0.875), with the exception of three outliers. For all the target compounds, water solubility, lipophilicity, molecular weight, and charge were therefore investigated in order to understand the role of these parameters in outliers’ specific behavior. Although a possible change in the charge through the transfer from blood to hair might be suspected for two outliers, on the whole the physicochemical parameters investigated here did not seem to influence incorporation of chemicals into hair. Our results support that the concentration of chemicals in hair mainly depends on the respective concentration in plasma and suggest that for most compounds, the transfer from blood to hair would not represent a limiting step in the incorporation.

Pesticide concentration in plasma vs hair

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. EFSA. Literature review on epidemiological studies linking exposure to pesticides and health effects. 2013.

  2. Kintz P, Salomone A, Vincenti M. Hair analysis in clinical and forensic toxicology. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2015.

  3. Ferko AP, Barbieri EJ, DiGregorio GJ, Ruch EK. The accumulation and disappearance of cocaine and benzoylecgonine in rat hair following prolonged administration of cocaine. Life Sci. 1992;51(23):1823–32.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Scheidweiler KB, Cone EJ, Moolchan ET, Huestis MA. Dose-related distribution of codeine, cocaine, and metabolites into human hair following controlled oral codeine and subcutaneous cocaine administration. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2005;313(2):909–15.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Appenzeller BM, Agirman R, Neuberg P, Yegles M, Wennig R. Segmental determination of ethyl glucuronide in hair: a pilot study. Forensic Sci Int. 2007;173(2-3):87–92.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Schramm KW. Hair—biomonitoring of organic pollutants. Chemosphere. 2008;72(8):1103–11.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Nakao T, Aozasa O, Ohta S, Miyata H. Assessment of human exposure to PCDDs, PCDFs and co-PCBs using hair as a human pollution indicator sample I: development of analytical method for human hair and evaluation for exposure assessment. Chemosphere. 2002;48(8):885–96.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Altshul L, Covaci A, Hauser R. The relationship between levels of PCBs and pesticides in human hair and blood: preliminary result. Environ Health Perspect. 2004;112(11):1193–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Nakahara Y. Hair analysis for abused and therapeutic drugs. J Chromatogr B Biomed Sci Appl. 1999;733(1-2):161–80.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Nakahara Y, Hanajiri R. Hair analysis for drugs of abuse XXI. Effect of para-substituents on benzene ring of methamphetamine on drug incorporation into rat hair. Life Sci. 2000;66(7):563–74.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Nakahara Y, Kikura R. Hair analysis for drugs of abuse. VII. The incorporation rates of cocaine, benzoylecgonine and ecgonine methyl ester into rat hair and hydrolysis of cocaine in rat hair. Arch Toxicol. 1994;68(1):54–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Nakahara Y, Ochiai T, Kikura R. Hair analysis for drugs of abuse. V. The facility in incorporation of cocaine into hair over its major metabolites, benzoylecgonine and ecgonine methyl ester. Arch Toxicol. 1992;66(6):446–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Scott KS, Nakahara Y. A study into the rate of incorporation of eight benzodiazepines into rat hair. Forensic Sci Int. 2003;133(1-2):47–56.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Kintz P. Traité de toxicologie médico-judiciaire. 2e édition ed: Elsevier Masson; 2012.

  15. Hardy EM, Duca RC, Salquebre G, Appenzeller BM. Multi-residue analysis of organic pollutants in hair and urine for matrices comparison. Forensic Sci Int. 2015;249:6–19.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Toxic Substances Portal [updated December 12, 2014]. December 12, 2014: Available from: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/index.asp.

  17. The Pesticide Properties Database (PPDB).

  18. The Toxine and Toxin Target Database (T3DB).

  19. Ruiz-Suarez LE, Castro-Chan RA, Rivero-Perez NE, Trejo-Acevedo A, Guillen-Navarro GK, Geissen V, et al. Levels of organochlorine pesticides in blood plasma from residents of malaria-endemic communities in Chiapas, Mexico. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2014;11(10):10444–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Curren MS, Davis K, Liang CL, Adlard B, Foster WG, Donaldson SG, et al. Comparing plasma concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and metals in primiparous women from northern and southern Canada. Sci Total Environ. 2014;479-480:306–18.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Wittsiepe J, Nestola M, Kohne M, Zinn P, Wilhelm M. Determination of polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides in small volumes of human blood by high-throughput on-line SPE-LVI-GC-HRMS. J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2014;945-946:217–24.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Appenzeller BM, Tsatsakis AM. Hair analysis for biomonitoring of environmental and occupational exposure to organic pollutants: state of the art, critical review and future needs. Toxicol Lett. 2012;210(2):119–40.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Ratelle M, Cote J, Bouchard M. Time profiles and toxicokinetic parameters of key biomarkers of exposure to cypermethrin in orally exposed volunteers compared with previously available kinetic data following permethrin exposure. J Appl Toxicol. 2015.

  24. Thiphom S, Prapamontol T, Chantara S, Mangklabruks A, Suphavilai C, Ahn KC, et al. Determination of the pyrethroid insecticide metabolite 3-PBA in plasma and urine samples from farmer and consumer groups in northern Thailand. J Environ Sci Health B. 2014;49(1):15–22.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Moser VC, Stewart N, Freeborn DL, Crooks J, MacMillan DK, Hedge JM, et al. Assessment of serum biomarkers in rats after exposure to pesticides of different chemical classes. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2015;282(2):161–74.

  26. Appenzeller B M R Hardy E M, Grova N, Chata C, Fays F, Briand O, Schroeder H, Duca R. hair analysis for the biomonitoring of pesticide exposure—comparison with blood and 24h-urine in an animal model. Submitted. 2015.

  27. Nakahara Y, Takahashi K, Kikura R. Hair analysis for drugs of abuse. X. Effect of physicochemical properties of drugs on the incorporation rates into hair. Biol Pharm Bull. 1995;18(9):1223–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Nakahara Y, Kikura R. Hair analysis for drugs of abuse. XIII. Effect of structural factors on incorporation of drugs into hair: the incorporation rates of amphetamine analogs. Arch Toxicol. 1996;70(12):841–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Pragst F, Balikova MA. State of the art in hair analysis for detection of drug and alcohol abuse. Clin Chim Acta. 2006;370(1-2):17–49.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Kintz P. Analytical and practical aspects of drug testing in hair. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2007. 382 p.

  31. Nakahara Y. Detection and diagnostic interpretation of amphetamines in hair. Forensic Sci Int. 1995;70(1-3):135–53.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study co-financed through the call for research project 2010 of the national program “Environmental and Occupational Health” (PNR EST) of the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES), with the financial support of the Office National de l’Eau et des Milieux Aquatiques (ONEMA) supporting the implementation of the Plan Ecophyto 2018, France.

Caroline Chata benefited from a PhD grant from the Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR) (AFR 7009593), Luxembourg.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Biomonitoring Research Unit, Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), Rue Henri Koch 29, 4354, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

    Caroline Chata, Emilie M. Hardy, Nathalie Grova & Brice M. R. Appenzeller

Authors
  1. Caroline Chata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Emilie M. Hardy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nathalie Grova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Brice M. R. Appenzeller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brice M. R. Appenzeller.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(PDF 178 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chata, C., M. Hardy, E., Grova, N. et al. Influence of pesticide physicochemical properties on the association between plasma and hair concentration. Anal Bioanal Chem 408, 3601–3612 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9442-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9442-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation