A Direct Injection LC/ESI-MS/MS Analysis of Urinary Cyclophosphamide as an Anticancer Drug for Monitoring Occupational Exposure

Abstract

A highly sensitive and reliable analytical method that uses liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry coupled with a simple on-line solid-phase extraction was developed to monitor occupational exposure by measuring cyclophosphamide in the urine of medical staffs who handle this anticancer drug. The quantitation limit is 3 pg/mL with a signal-to-noise ratio of more than 10, and the measurement range is 3 pg/mL to 3 ng/mL. Using this method, trace levels of cyclophosphamide have been detected in the urine of two pharmacists after handling this anticancer drug during more than 4 years exposure survey. This finding strongly suggests that it is very important to monitor the occupational exposure of medical staffs who handle anticancer drugs in order to assess the health hazard and control the use of these chemotherapies. These data also show that this analytical method can be successfully used to monitor occupational exposure by measuring the levels of residual cyclophosphamide in human urine.