Metabolic studies of explosives. 5. Detection and analysis of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene and its metabolites in urine of munition workers by micro liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

Metabolites of 2,4,6‐trinitrotoluene (TNT) were found in the urine of a group of TNT munition workers. The urine extracts were analysed by micro liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. The metabolites found included 2‐amino‐4,6‐dinitrotoluene, 4‐amino‐2,6‐dinitrotoluene, 2,4‐diamino‐6‐nitrotoluene, 2,6‐diamino‐4‐nitrotoluene and untransformed TNT. The detection limit of the metabolites in urine was 0.1 ng/ml for 20 ml urine samples.