Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread in the environment and can adversely affect human health. The aim of the present study is to describe the level of PAHs exposure in children living in Kraków, one of the most polluted cities in Poland, and to determine the relationship of urinary biomarkers with environmental PAHsexposure.

Urinary monohydroxy metabolites (OH-PAHs) of 20 PAHs were assessed in 218 three-year old children, of which only 10 were present in nearly all the samples: monohydroxy metabolites of naphthalene, fluorene, phenantrene and pyrene. Of the metabolites analyzed, hydroxynaphthalenes were predominant and constituted almost 73% of total excreted OH-PAHs, while 1-OH-PYRene was the least abundant (2.3% of total OH-PAHs). All measured urinary OH-PAHs were statistically significantly correlated with each other (R = 0.165–0.880) but the highest correlation coefficients with other individual OH-PAHs and with total OH-PAHs were observed for 2-OH-FLUOR.

Children exposed at home to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) had higher concentrations of fluorene and pyrene urinary metabolites compared to those without ETS exposure; and those exposed to gas-based appliances used for cooking or heating water had higher levels of fluorene and phenanthrene metabolites than children not exposed. The use of coal, wood or oil for heating was associated with elevated levels of 1-OH-PYRene. Urinary PAHs metabolites only modestly reflect high molecular weight carcinogenic PAHs exposures such as those monitored in air in the present study. None of the measured PAHs metabolites was correlated with airborne PM_2.5 and only two were slightly correlated with measured higher molecular mass airborne PAHs.

The average concentrations of these specific metabolites in Polish children were much higher than observed in other pediatric populations living in developed countries. Our findings suggest that to capture various sources of PAHs, in addition to 1-OH-PYRene, biomonitoring of PAHs exposure should include 2-OH-NAP and 2-OH-FLUOR.

多环芳烃（PAHs）在环境中分布很广，会对人体健康产生不利影响。本研究的目的是描述生活在波兰污染最严重的城市之一的克拉科夫儿童的PAHs暴露水平，并确定尿液生物标志物与环境PAHs暴露的关系。

在218名三岁儿童中评估了20种PAH的尿单羟基代谢产物（OH-PAHs），其中几乎所有样品中都只有10种存在：萘，芴，菲和and。在所分析的代谢产物中，羟基萘占主导地位，占排泄的OH-PAHs的近73％，而1-OH-PYRene含量最低（占OH-PAHs的2.3％）。所有测得的尿中OH-PAHs之间在统计学上均具有显着相关性（R = 0.165–0.880），但是对于2-OH-FLUOR，与其他单个OH-PAHs和总OH-PAHs的相关系数最高。

与未接触ETS的儿童相比，在家中接触环境烟草烟雾（ETS）的儿童中芴和pyr的尿代谢产物浓度更高；暴露于用于烹饪或加热水的气体基器具中的那些，其芴和菲代谢物的含量要高于未暴露的儿童。使用煤，木材或石油进行加热会增加1-OH-PYRene的含量。尿中PAHs代谢产物仅适度反映了高分子量致癌PAHs暴露，例如本研究中在空气中监测到的暴露。所测得的PAHs代谢产物均与空气中的PM _2.5无关，只有两种与所测得的较高分子量的机载PAHs略有相关。

波兰儿童中这些特定代谢物的平均浓度比生活在发达国家的其他儿科人群中观察到的浓度高得多。我们的发现表明，除了捕获1-OH-PYRene以外，要捕获多种PAHs来源，对PAHs暴露的生物监测还应包括2-OH-NAP和2-OH-FLUOR。