Detection Techniques for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Their Metabolites: A Review

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of organic pollutants affecting the environment as well as individual health that has been linked to various diseases including cancer. Detection is focused on PAHs themselves for environmental analysis, and on urinary metabolites for human exposure assessment. Laboratory‐based detection methodologies such as liquid or gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry have been established for more than 30 years and significantly improved over the years in terms of sensitivity and throughput. Outside of a laboratory environment, sensing close to the point‐of‐care could enable quick and simple analysis for routine testing, and various bio‐ and chemosensors utilizing different transducer designs have been developed to address this issue. This narrative review reports the state of the art in sensing PAHs and their metabolites, discussing laboratory‐based techniques before focusing on techniques that promise to enable in‐situ use at the point‐of‐care and in environmental settings.