Recent advances in analytical methods of oxidative stress biomarkers induced by environmental pollutant exposure

Exposure to environmental pollutants poses a great threat to human health. Oxidative stress is one of the widely accepted toxicity mechanisms of pollutants, and oxidative stress biomarkers provide tools for tracing the adverse effects of pollutant exposure. In this review, we focus on five kinds of typical oxidative stress biomarkers induced by pollutant exposure, including ROS, antioxidants, oxidative DNA damages, oxidative protein damages and oxidative lipid damages. We will summarize and review the application progress of various analytical methods mainly in the past decade. We also comprehensively discuss and compare their advantages and potential disadvantages. In addition, several novel analytical techniques, such as DNA damage sequencing, chemical isotope labeling, and mass spectrometry imaging, have been applied to the analysis of the biomarkers with different degrees of success. Therefore, a broader prospect is anticipated for oxidative stress biomarkers in the field of health risk assessment of pollutants.