MUE scientific: acquisition of a two-dimensional gas chromatography system coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (2D GC qTof MS) for human biomonitoring and exposome studies

• Grant number: 22/11343-5
• Support Opportunities: Research Infrastructure Program - Scientific
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: July 31, 2030
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Pharmacy - Toxicological Analysis
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Barbosa Júnior
• Grantee: Fernando Barbosa Júnior
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: Ribeirão Preto
• Associated researchers: Andréia Machado Leopoldino ; Antonio Cardozo dos Santos ; Danielle Palma de Oliveira ; Fabiani Gai Frantz ; Isabela Judith Martins Bensenor ; Luciane Carla Alberici ; Paulo Andrade Lotufo ; Thais Mauad ; Vera Lúcia Lanchote

Abstract

Environmental hazards account for a large, but not well characterized, proportion of the burden of disease. The exposome, described as "the totality of human environmental exposures from conception onwards", recognizes that individuals are exposed simultaneously to a multitude of different environmental factors and takes a holistic approach to the discovery of etiological factors for disease. The exposome's main advantage over traditional 'one-exposure-one-disease' study approaches are that it provides an unprecedented conceptual framework for the study of multiple environmental hazards (urban, chemical, lifestyle, social) and their combined effects.Thus, a unique transdisciplinary and innovative research proposal, based on the formation of the first exposome central facility in Brazil is proposed. 24 leading scientists form the team from 2 Institutions (USP and UNESP), including researchers in the fields of Medicine, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Toxicology, Environmental Sciences, Endocrinology, and Epidemiology. Most of the researchers in this proposal are recognized as Brazilian Scientist's leaders in research on Toxicology, Environmental Sciences, and Epidemiology.With the new structure, we will be able of measuring hundreds to thousands of chemicals (high advanced multi-exposure measurement), including emerging contaminants. The requested equipment configuration can place Brazil in the select group of countries with a modern central laboratory with analytical capacity for studies in exposomics. To meet the strategy, the equipment of choice is the Agilent 7250 GCxGC (2D) qTOF MS which is a unique gas chromatography high-resolution system THAT DOES NOT EXIST IN ANY RESEARCH INSTITUTE OR UNIVERSITY IN THE STATE OF SÃO PAULO. The distinctive properties of the GCxGC (2D GC) qTOF MS system include target and untargeted analysis (screening and quantification) of hundreds to thousands of common and emerging contaminants (examples: over 650 pesticides, 209 PBDEs, 209 PCBs, > 100 PHAs (including low and high molecular weight PAHs), > 150 Dioxins (PCDD/Fs): Chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, several volatile phenols, more than 70 phthalates, chlorinated dibenzofurans, > 300 pharmaceuticals, several drugs of abuse, etc.), ability to isomerically differentiate emerging contaminants and drugs (by the use of soft EI), differentiation of constituent polymers of nano and microplastics (this is the "gold standard technique" for microplastics identification/determination), several potential biomarkers in exhaled air (volatomics), quantification of numerous emerging contaminants and biomarkers in post-mortem tissue samples. Determination of several oxidative stress biomarkers related to DNA and lipid alteration for mechanistic studies in toxicology. The metabolome of volatile and volatilizable substances (This is a unique profile and complementary to that obtained by LC-MS based approaches). Moreover, the requested equipment has a very extensive application and can be used for several other research groups in São Paulo State, with environmental, metabolomics, petroleum, food, and botanical samples. A brief search at Scopus database identified thousands of documents with mention to the use of GC (q)TOFMS in studies of Food Science, Food Toxicology, Food Adulteration, Food Sensory Quality Products, General Metabolomics of Volatile Compounds, Plant Analysis, Forensic Sciences, Organic Chemistry, Fuel Oil Analysis and other areas. (AU)