Analytical Procedures Used in Examining Human Urine Samples

The source of information about the state of our environment can be both the abiotic part of the environment (water, soil, air) and samples of the biotic part, including tissues and body fluids of humans, who are continuously exposed to a wide spectrum of xenobiotic chemicals. The investigation of human body fluids (mainly blood and urine) can be a useful and interesting way to obtain information about the state of the environment. However, in order to examine the composition of physiological fluids such as urine or blood, collected samples have to be pretreated prior to final determination, because they have a very complex matrix, precluding direct determination of analytes by any of the available analytical methods. This paper is a review of the literature regarding: - analyte isolation and/or enrichment techniques from samples of human urine prior to their final determination; - final determination methods for a wide variety of analytes (both organic and inorganic) in urine samples. The review includes both the primary form of pollutants that entered the human body as a result of environmental or workplace exposure and the products of their metabolism in the organism. The determination of metabolites (biomarkers) in urine is often used as a quantitative indicator of exposure to a given substance (so-called biomonitoring).