There is increasing evidence that exposure to toxic chemicals during the prenatal period constitute a higher health risk than exposure during adulthood. To characterize exposure and identify risk factors, sensitive methods for analysis of chemicals in vivo with biomarker methods are needed. Adducts to hemoglobin (Hb) have been shown useful as biomarkers of dose in blood of reactive compounds/metabolites, which are toxic due to reactions with biomacromolecules.

The aim of this thesis was to develop a new method for the analysis of Hb adducts suitable for analysis of large sample series, and then to apply the method for measurements of Hb adducts from exposure to acrylamide, glycidamide and ethylene oxide in mother/cord blood samples from five European countries.

A new method for measurements of N-terminal Hb adducts, denoted the adduct FIRE procedure, was developed using the fluorescein isothiocyanate Edman reagent. With the new procedure, optimized for LC/MS analysis, a high sensitivity and reproducibility was achieved. The new method made it possible to perform measurements of low exposures to the studied genotoxic compounds in approximately 1350 maternal and cord blood samples.

The results show that the fetus is exposed to a similar in vivo dose of the studied compounds as the mother. The measured Hb adduct levels show that acrylamide exposure from food intake is higher for the participating mothers fromUK compared to the mothers from the other countries. The measured Hb adduct levels form a basis for evaluations of relationships between exposure and health risks, and ongoing studies indicate associations between acrylamide Hb adduct levels and birth weight.

The developed method was also used for identification of an unknown Hb adduct, which was shown to originate from methyl vinyl ketone (MVK), a highly reactive and toxic compound. The identity of the adduct was confirmed with synthesized standards. There exist both natural and anthropogenic sources to MVK, and to what extent the MVK-adduct reflects exogenous exposure is yet not clarified.