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  3. Melanin-mediated accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in human hair: Insights from biomonitoring and cell exposure studies

Melanin-mediated accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in human hair: Insights from biomonitoring and cell exposure studies

  • J Hazard Mater. 2024 Mar 24:470:134112. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134112.
Shiyi Zhang 1,  Weikeng Luo 2,  Fang Zhao 3,  Lulu Huang 3,  Ruixin Qin 4,  Xiao Yan 1,  Bin Tang 1,  Xiaojun Luo 5,  Bixian Mai 5,  Yunjiang Yu 1,  Jing Zheng 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Health Risk Assessment, Research Center of Emerging Contaminants, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, 510655, PR China.
  • 2 State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Health Risk Assessment, Research Center of Emerging Contaminants, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, 510655, PR China. Electronic address: luoweikeng@scies.org.
  • 3 State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Health Risk Assessment, Research Center of Emerging Contaminants, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, 510655, PR China; School of Environment, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
  • 4 State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Health Risk Assessment, Research Center of Emerging Contaminants, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, 510655, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Resources Utilization and Protection, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, PR China.
  • 5 State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Resources Utilization and Protection, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, PR China; Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Environmental Pollution and Control, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, PR China.
  • 6 State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Health Risk Assessment, Research Center of Emerging Contaminants, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, 510655, PR China. Electronic address: zhengjing@scies.org.
PMID: 38537572 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134112
Abstract

While human hair is widely used to monitor micro-organic contaminants (MOCs), their incorporation mechanisms are poorly understood. Melanin, known to facilitate the accumulation of drugs in hair, hasn't been studied in the field of MOCs. Here, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a class of priority MOCs, were investigated through hair biomonitoring as well as cell exposure experiments. PAH concentrations and melanin contents were measured in black and white hairs from the same individual. The results showed that five dominant PAHs (phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene and chrysene) in black hair (0.66 ng/g - 35.1 ng/g) were significantly higher than those in white hair (0.52 ng/g - 29.6 ng/g). Melanin contents in black hair (14.9 - 48.9 ng/g) were markedly higher than in white hair (0.35 - 2.15 ng/g) and were correlated to PAH concentrations, hinting melanin-mediated accumulation of PAHs in hair. The in vitro experiment using murine melanoma cells demonstrates that PAH levels in cells were affected by melanin, suggesting the affinity of melanin to PAHs. Both biomonitoring and cell exposure experiment implicate the pivotal role of melanin in PAH accumulation in hair. Therefore, to ensure the accuracy of hair biomonitoring for MOCs, attention must be paid to the melanin content uniformity.

Keywords

Accumulation mechanism; Biomonitoring; Hair; Melanin; PAHs.

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