Urinary Acrylonitrile Metabolite Concentrations Before and after Smoked, Vaporized, and Oral Cannabis in Frequent and Occasional Cannabis Users.

Authors

David L Ashley, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303, United States
Víctor R De Jesús, Tobacco and Volatiles Branch, Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341, United States
Osama A Abulseoud, Chemistry and Drug Metabolism Section, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, United States
Marilyn A. Huestis, Institute for Emerging Health Professions, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, United StatesFollow
Daniel F Milan, Robert J. Tomsich Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195, United States
Benjamin C Blount, Tobacco and Volatiles Branch, Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341, United States

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2-2020

Comments

This article has been peer reviewed. It was published in: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Volume 17, Issue 18, 2 September 2020, Article number 6438, Pages 1-11.

The published version is available at DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17186438

Copyright © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Abstract

Cannabis use through smoking, vaping, or ingestion is increasing, but only limited studies have investigated the resulting exposure to harmful chemicals. N-acetyl-S-(2-cyanoethyl)-L-cysteine (2CYEMA), a urinary metabolite of acrylonitrile, a possible carcinogen, is elevated in the urine of past-30-day cannabis users compared to non-cannabis users. Five frequent and five occasional cannabis users smoked and vaped cannabis on separate days; one also consumed cannabis orally. Urine samples were collected before and up to 72 h post dose and urinary 2CYEMA was quantified. We compared 2CYEMA pre-exposure levels, maximum concentration, time at maximum concentration for occasional versus frequent users following different exposure routes, and measured half-life of elimination. Smoking cannabis joints rapidly (within 10 min) increased 2CYEMA in the urine of occasional cannabis users, but not in frequent users. Urine 2CYEMA did not consistently increase following vaping or ingestion in either study group. Cigarette smokers had high pre-exposure concentrations of 2CYEMA. Following cannabis smoking, the half-lives of 2CYEMA ranged from 2.5 to 9.0 h. 2CYEMA is an effective biomarker of cannabis smoke exposure, including smoke from a single cannabis joint, however, not from vaping or when consumed orally. When using 2CYEMA to evaluate exposure in cannabis users, investigators should collect the details about tobacco smoking, route of consumption, and time since last use as possible covariates.

Recommended Citation

Ashley, David L; De Jesús, Víctor R; Abulseoud, Osama A; Huestis, Marilyn A.; Milan, Daniel F; and Blount, Benjamin C, "Urinary Acrylonitrile Metabolite Concentrations Before and after Smoked, Vaporized, and Oral Cannabis in Frequent and Occasional Cannabis Users." (2020). Institute of Emerging Health Professions Faculty Papers. Paper 6.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/iehpfp/6

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.