Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are pollutants that are released into the environment during incomplete combustion of organic matter and which can have a negative effect on human health. PAHs enter the human body mostly through ingestion of food or inhalation of tobacco smoke. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the internal levels of PAHs that children living in the Valencian Region (Spain) are exposed to.

In total, we measured eleven biomarkers of exposure to naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, pyrene, and benzo(a)pyrene in the urine of 566 children aged 5–12. The analytical method was based on a liquid-liquid extraction of the PAH metabolites from the urine samples, followed by their determination by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. In addition, we used a questionnaire to collect the socio-demographic characteristics and 72 h dietary recall information of the participants in our study.

Overall, we detected PAH metabolites in more than 78% of the children, with the exception of 3-hydroxyfluorene and 3-hydroxybenzo(a)pyrene, which were found in less than 37% of the analyzed samples. The most abundant biomarker found was 2-hydroxynaphthalene, with a geometric mean of 10 ng·ml⁻¹. Reference values (RV₉₅) ranging from 0.11 (4-hydroxyphenanthrene) to 53 ng·ml⁻¹ (2-hydroxynaphthalene) in urine of Spanish children were derived from the present study. According to the statistical analysis, the factors that were significantly associated with the internal exposure to PAHs were province of residence, body mass index (BMI), children’s age, consumption of plastic-wrapped food, and dietary habits. The estimated daily intakes in geometric mean terms ranged from 5 (fluorene) to 204 ng·kg-bw⁻¹·day⁻¹ (naphthalene). Risk assessment calculations showed higher hazard quotients and hazard indexes for children aged 5–8 than those aged 9–12, but all were below 1.

In conclusion, no potential non-cancer health risk due to PAH exposure was observed in children living in Spain.

多环芳烃（PAHs）是在有机物不完全燃烧过程中释放到环境中的污染物，可能对人体健康产生负面影响。多环芳烃主要通过摄入食物或吸入烟草烟雾进入人体。本研究的目的是评估生活在巴伦西亚地区（西班牙）的儿童所接触的PAHs的内部水平。

总共，我们测量了566名5至12岁儿童尿液中暴露于萘，芴，菲，and和苯并（a）even的11种生物标志物。该分析方法基于从尿液样品中液-液提取PAH代谢物，然后通过液相色谱-串联质谱法对其进行测定。此外，我们使用问卷调查的方式收集了我们研究参与者的社会人口统计学特征和72小时的饮食回想信息。

总体而言，我们在超过78％的儿童中检测到PAH代谢产物，但在少于37％的分析样本中发现了3-羟基芴和3-羟基苯并（a）re。发现的最丰富的生物标志物是2-羟基萘，其几何平均值为10 ng·ml ^-1。参考值（RV ₉₅）为0.11（4-羟基菲）至53 ng·ml ^-1西班牙儿童尿液中的（2-羟基萘）来源于本研究。根据统计分析，与内部暴露于PAHs显着相关的因素是居住省份，体重指数（BMI），儿童年龄，食用塑料包装食品和饮食习惯。以几何平均数估算的每日摄入量为5（芴）至204 ng·kg-bw ^-1 ·day ^-1（萘）。风险评估计算显示，5-8岁的儿童的危险商和危险指数高于9-12岁的儿童，但均低于1。

总之，在西班牙生活的儿童中，未观察到由于暴露于PAH而引起的潜在非癌症健康风险。