Exposição ocupacional aos fármacos antineoplásicos: desenvolvimento de método para aplicação no monitoramento de superfícies

Abstract

The present study aimed to develop a method for simultaneous determination of antineoplastic drugs by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometer (UHPLC-MS/MS), to be applied in monitoring work surfaces, in handling locations of these chemicals. The targed compounds were the cyclophosphamide (CP), the docetaxel (DOC), the doxorrubicin (DOXO) and the 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), chosen according to their use and/or considered exposure indicators to antineoplastics. The methotrexate (MTX) was also evaluated, but satisfactory results were not obtained for this compound, under optimized conditions for other analytes. The analyses were carried out in the positive ionization mode, except for the 5-FU, and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). The chromatographic separation was performed in 15 minutes using Shim-pack® XR-ODS C18 column (100 x 3,0 mm, 2,2 ƒÊm) and a similar pre-column, gradient elution, to the mobile phase, formic acid 0,1% and acetonitrile, at a flow rate of 0,3 mL min-¹. The mass transitions used to quantify selectively monitored for each compound, were: m/z 261,0 > 140,0 for CP; m/z 830,3 > 304,0 for DOC; m/z 544,1 > 396,9 for DOXO and m/z 129,1 > 42,1 for 5-FU. The validated analytical method was linear, with r² . 0,9939, in the assessed range of 5 to 300 ng mL-¹, for CP and of 10 to 300 ng mL-¹, for DOC, DOXO and 5-FU; accurate, with relative standard deviations lower than 15%, for all concentrations and all studied analytes. The limits of detection and quantification were determined from 0,5-1,3 ng mL-1 and 1,7-4,3 ng mL-¹, respectively. After analysis of 54 surfaces, spiked with the analytes, in a quantity of 150, 250 and 500 ng, the obtained mean recoveries were between 59,9-104,8%, with relative standard errors of up to ±6%. The obtained results, in this study, suggest that the developed method is suitable to identify, simultaneously, four, of the five, studied antineoplastics, becoming a promising and important analytical tool for the occupational exposure monitoring to these drugs.