The lung is a target organ for the toxic effects of several chemical agents, including natural products, industrial chemicals, environmental agents, and occasionally, drugs. The assessment of PAHs in the lungs of patients with pulmonary cancer is important because these pollutants have mutagenic, carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting properties. This study included 31 histological confirmed lung cancer cases diagnosed consecutively at the Clinical Hospital of Pneumology (Iasi, Romania) from 2008 to 2009. Analyses were carried out using an accelerated solvent extraction technique and HPLC with a fluorescence detector. Fifteen PAHs were detected in all analyzed samples with non-carcinogenic compounds significantly elevated (45.57 ng g(-1) wet tissue) against carcinogenic compounds (6.12 ng g(-1) wet tissue). The mean ± SD lung tissue level of benzo(a)anthracene (3.57 ± 4.64 ng g(-1) wet tissue), a carcinogenic PAH, was found to be significantly higher (p<0.05) in patients from urban areas compared with the level (1.22 ± 1.45 ng g(-1) wet tissue) in patients from rural areas. Similarly, the levels of non-carcinogenic acenaphtene (8.95 ± 13.32 ng g(-1) wet tissue), fluoranthrene (5.31 ± 5.40 ng g(-1) wet tissue) and anthracene (4.83 ± 7.57 ng g(-1) wet tissue) were also detected to be higher (p<0.05) in the urban group compared to the levels for the rural group (1.46 ± 2.34, 1.83 ± 2.50 and 1.89 ± 3.79 ng g(-1) wet tissue, respectively). High concentrations of PAHs, especially carcinogenic PAHs, such as benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthrene, and benzo(k)fluoranthrene, were observed in lung tissue samples collected from subjects with A and O blood types.
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