Effect biomonitoring in a controlled firefighting setting: an untargeted metabolomic pilot study

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Metabolomics
• Occupational Exposure

Background:

• Traditional exposure biomonitoring quantifies internal doses but misses complex exposures like chemical mixtures and stress.
• Effect biomonitoring, using methods like untargeted metabolomics, is crucial for assessing systemic health impacts of combined stressors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify metabolic alterations in firefighters due to controlled fire smoke exposure.
• To evaluate the utility of urinary metabolomics for effect biomonitoring in occupational settings.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of urine samples from firefighters before and after controlled physical stress and fire exposure scenarios.
• Untargeted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for metabolite profiling.
• Statistical analysis using MetaboAnalyst and R software.

Main Results:

• Principal component analysis revealed distinct metabolic profiles between exposure scenarios.
• Four key metabolites (catechol, 3-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan, serotonin) were significantly altered by fire exposure.
• Tryptophan and catecholamine pathways were identified as primarily impacted.

Conclusions:

• Firefighter exposure to smoke elicits significant systemic stress responses, detectable through urinary metabolite changes.
• Urinary metabolomics shows promise as a non-invasive tool to supplement effect biomonitoring for firefighters.
• Further research is needed to differentiate toxicological from non-toxicological stressors.