Advances on thirdhand smoke using targeted and untargeted approaches

Identifier:  TDX:3192

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX3192

Authors:  Torres Gené, Sònia

Abstract:
Thirdhand tobacco smoke (THS) is a novel and poorly understood pathway of tobacco exposure produced by the deposi=on and ageing of tobacco smoke par=cles and toxicants in surfaces and dust. This aged tobacco smoke could reemit into the air or react with other atmospheric chemicals to yield new toxicants, including carcinogens and becoming increasingly toxic with age. Although growing evidences of THS hazards, its chemical characteriza=on and the related health effects remain to be fully elucidated. Hence, this thesis aims to advance on the current knowledge on THS chemical characteriza=on and on the health effects derived from THS exposure by applying novel targeted and untargeted approaches. To advance on THS chemical characteriza=on, we have developed an efficient, quick and robust analy=cal method for simultaneously determining tobacco-specific compounds in household dust by ultra-highperformance liquid-chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MSMS). We applied this target method in combina=on with untargeted strategies for a comprehensive characteriza=on of THS toxicants aNached to household dust. The developed untargeted workflow combines the sample acquisi=on by UHPLC coupled to high-resolu=on mass spectrometry (HR-MS) with the applica=on of advanced data processing strategies, the sta=s=cal priori=za=on of relevant features and a novel strategy for compound annota=on. The combina=on of these two approaches provided for the first =me the annota=on of dozens of toxicants related to THS contamina=on. To advance on the health effects, this thesis presents the first mul=plaQorm untargeted metabolomics study to unravel the molecular altera=ons of liver from mice exposed to THS. UHPLC-HRMS and nuclear magne=c resonance (NMR) revealed dozens of hepa=c metabolites altered in THS-exposed mice whilst mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) showed the differen=al spa=al distribu=on of lipids induced by THS. The results presented here confirm the hazards of THS exposure and the key role of combined untargeted and targeted methods in environmental health research.