Determination of dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethyl sulfone in urine by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after preparation using 2,2-dimethoxypropane.

A method for routinely determination of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and dimethyl sulfone (DMSO(2)) in human urine was developed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The urine sample was treated with 2,2-dimethoxypropane (DMP) and hydrochloric acid for efficient removal of water, which causes degradation of the vacuum level in mass spectrometer and shortens the life-time of the column. Experimental DMP reaction parameters, such as hydrochloric acid concentration, DMP-urine ratio, reaction temperature and reaction time, were optimized for urine. Hexadeuterated DMSO was used as an internal standard. The recoveries of DMSO and DMSO(2) from urine were 97-104 and 98-116%, respectively. The calibration curves showed linearity in the range of 0.15-54.45 mg/L for DMSO and 0.19-50.10 mg/L for DMSO(2). The limits of detection of DMSO and DMSO(2) were 0.04 and 0.06 mg/L, respectively. The relative standard deviations of intra-day and inter-day were 0.2-3.4% for DMSO and 0.4-2.4% for DMSO(2). The proposed method may be useful for the biological monitoring of workers exposed to DMSO in their occupational environment.