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Impact of urine preservation methods and duration of storage on measured levels of environmental contaminants

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 16, pages 39–48 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Collection of urine samples in human studies involves choices regarding shipping, sample preservation, and storage that may ultimately influence future analysis. As more studies collect and archive urine samples to evaluate environmental exposures in the future, we were interested in assessing the impact of urine preservative, storage temperature, and time since collection on nonpersistent contaminants in urine samples. In spiked urine samples stored in three types of urine vacutainers (no preservative, boric acid, and chlorhexidine), we measured five groups of contaminants to assess the levels of these analytes at five time points (0, 24, 48, and 72 h, and 1 week) and at two temperatures (room temperature and 4°C). The target chemicals were bisphenol A (BPA), metabolites of organophosphate (OP), carbamate, and pyrethroid insecticides, chlorinated phenols, and phthalate monoesters, and were measured using five different mass spectrometry-based methods. Three samples were analyzed at each time point, with the exception of BPA. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to evaluate effects of storage time, temperature, and preservative. Stability was summarized with percent change in mean concentration from time 0. In general, most analytes were stable under all conditions with changes in mean concentration over time, temperature, and preservative being generally less than 20%, with the exception of the OP metabolites in the presence of boric acid. The effect of storage temperature was less important than time since collection. The precision of the laboratory measurements was high allowing us to observe small differences, which may not be important when categorizing individuals into broader exposure groups.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

analysis of variance

APCI:

atmospheric pressure chemical ionization

BPA:

bisphenol A

CDC:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CV:

coefficient of variation

DAP:

dialkylphosphates

DEDTP:

diethyldithiophosphate

DEP:

diethylphosphate

DETP:

diethylthiophosphate

DMDTP:

dimethyldithiophosphate

DMP:

dimethylphosphate

GC-MS/MS:

gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

HPLC-MS/MS:

high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

LOD:

limit of detection

NC:

not calculated

MEP:

monoethyl phthalate

MOP:

monooctyl phthalate

OP:

organophosphate

RT:

room temperature

SD:

standard deviation

SPE:

solid phase extraction

TCPY:

3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the intramural research funds of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. We acknowledge Lisa Caltabiano, A. Ryan Slakman, Kimberly Smith, Donna Walden, Drs. Roberto Bravo, Anders Olsson, Jack Reidy, Manori Silva, Gayanga Weerasekera, and Zsuzsanna Kuklenyik for technical assistance in the preparation and analyses of the samples, and for assistance in data analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology Branch, NIEHS, NIH, DHHS, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

    Jane A Hoppin

  2. Westat, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

    Ross Ulmer

  3. National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DHHS, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Antonia M Calafat & Dana B Barr

  4. CODA Research, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

    Susan V Baker

  5. Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

    Helle M Meltzer & Kjersti S Rønningen

Authors
  1. Jane A Hoppin
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  2. Ross Ulmer
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  3. Antonia M Calafat
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  4. Dana B Barr
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Correspondence to Jane A Hoppin.

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Hoppin, J., Ulmer, R., Calafat, A. et al. Impact of urine preservation methods and duration of storage on measured levels of environmental contaminants. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 16, 39–48 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500435

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