Dust, indoor human exposure

Bjorklund, J.A., Thuresson, K., et al (2009) Perfluoroalkyl compounds (PECs) in indoor dust concentrations, human exposure estimates, and sources. Environmental Science and Technology, 43(7) 2276-2281. 

To evaluate human exposure to phthalates and their substitutes, the main approaches investigate either the levels of chemicals in matrices relevant for human exposure (indoor air, dust, food and packages, etc.) or the levels of parent and metabolite compounds in human samples (serum, urine, or breast milk). An overview of phthalate and nonphthalate plasticizers together with their metabolites commonly reported in literature is presented in Table 5. The half-lives for the most of these compounds are already established and therefore, by evaluating the levels of their metabolites in human urine, the levels of their parent compounds may be... 

Considering the migration possibilities of such chemicals from their original products, complex studies were performed for classical plasticizers such as DEHP or DBP to evaluate the relevance of each pathway to human exposure assessments. Therefore, the total exposure of adults of such plasticizers was evaluated by quantifying the target substances in duplicate diet portions (collected daily over 7 consecutive days), and also by measuring indoor air and dust concentrations [129]. The results indicate that dietary exposure is the dominant... 

The main source of human exposure to cyclic siloxanes is PCPs. Other less significant sources are rubber products, sealants, cookware, silicone grease, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, electronics, dust, and even indoor and outdoor air [277, 281]. The highest concentrations of cyclic siloxanes reported by Lu et al. [282] in PCPs from China were 72.9 pg/g D4 and 1,110 pg/g D5 in shampoos and... 

Abdallah MAE, Harrad S, Covaci A (2008) Hexabromocyclododecanes and tetrabromobisphenol-A in indoor air and dust in Birmingham, UK implications for human exposure. Environ Sci Technol 42 6855-6861... 

Geens T, Roosens L, Neels H, Covaci A (2009) Assessment of human exposure to Bisphenol-A, Triclosan and Tetrabromobisphenol-A through indoor dust intake in Belgium. 

Ali N, Harrad S, Goosey E, Neels H, Covaci A (2011) Novel brominated flame retardants in Belgian and UK indoor dust implications for human exposure. Chemosphere 83 1360-1365... 

Lu Y, Yuan T, Yun SH, Wang W, Wu Q, Kannan K (2010) Occurrence of cyclic and linear siloxanes in indoor dust from China, and implications for human exposures. Environ Sci Technol 44 6081-6087... 

Van den Eede N, Dirtu AC, Neels H, Covaci A (2011) Analytical developments and preliminary assessment of human exposure to organophosphate flame retardants from indoor dust. Environ Int 37 454 61... 

In addition, other routes of human exposure are less studied, and exposure through dust (indoor and outdoor) and inhalation is necessary, and for example, the bioavailability of the current compounds from dust is unknown. 

VVOCs, (b.p. <0 to 50-100°C) and VOCs, (b.p. 50-100 to 240-260 °C) are transitory and predominantly found in air. Organic compounds of lower volatility, that is, SVOCs (b.p. 240-260 to 380-400°C) are present in air as well as in dust, whereas POM (b.p. >380°C) is part of the dust indoors. Analyses of SVOCs in indoor air and house dust are a measure of indoor contamination but may also provide valuable information for the assessment of human indoor exposure. 

Shoeib, M., Harner, T., Wilford, B.H., Jones, K.C. and Zhu, J.P. (2005) Perfluorinated sulfonamides in indoor and outdoor air and indoor dust occurrence, partitioning, and human exposure. Environmental Science and Technology, 39, 6599-606. 

Ren, Y., Cheng, T. and Chen, J. (2006) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in dust from computers one possible indoor source of human exposure. Atmospheric Environment, 40, 6956-65. 

Environmental exposures are present through the human lifetime. However, they may vary considerably over time at the same location, for example, because of the local or global changes in emission and environmental pollution levels. Environmental exposures of humans consist of exposures outdoors and indoors as well as at workplaces these environments may significantly differ. The exposure media include air, water, and soil and dust. Historically, research on human exposures to chemicals and associated health effects has been conducted mostly on single chemicals. In addition, several studies have dealt with complex mixtures, such as diesel fuel and gasoline, by-products from coal combustion, and tobacco smoke. A common problem of complex mixtures is that the composition may vary from one exposure to another and, as a result, the associated toxicity may vary. For a better understanding... 

Harrad, S. Hazrati, S. Ibarra, C., Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls in indoor air and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in indoor air and dust in Birmingham, United Kingdom Implications for human exposure Environ. Sci Technoi 2006, 40, 4633-4638. 

This chapter will first review critically methods for monitoring BFRs, PCBs, and PFCs in indoor air and dust. It will then summarise the concentrations in such matrices of these contaminants, together with the factors that influence such contamination and its implications for human exposure, and will make recommendations as to future research needs in this area. 

The previous section demonstrates clearly that concentrations of the POPs under consideration in this chapter are markedly higher in indoor air and dust than those detected in the corresponding matrices (air and soil respectively) outdoors. It is therefore pertinent to evaluate the significance of human exposure that arises from such indoor contamination relative to dietary exposure. 

Given this evidence of similar availability of PBDEs associated with dust and diet. Table 7.9 summarises data on how contamination of indoor dust (and air) contributes to UK estimates of external human exposure to BFRs relative to dietary exposures. It is apparent... 

Given the likely vast reservoir of POPs associated with indoor environments (in air, dust, and in treated goods/materials), Harrad and Diamond (2006) proposed that this reservoir was exerting and would continue to exert, for the foreseeable future, a significant impact on outdoor contamination and thus human exposure. This concept is dealt with in detail in Chapter 8, but is mentioned here briefly to underline further the importance of indoor contamination. In short, several studies have shown marked urban pulses of both PCBs and PBDEs, whereby concentrations in both outdoor air and soil are correlated positively with the distance from the urban centres of Birmingham, UK, and Toronto, Canada (Harner et al, 2006 Harrad and Hunter, 2006 Jamshidi et al, 2007 Motelay-Massei et al., 2005). A further link between indoor and outdoor contamination was made by the correspondence between the chiral signatures of PCBs 95 and 149 in indoor and outdoor air, but not soil, in Birmingham (Jamshidi et al., 2007). 

Harrad, S., Ibarra, C., et al (2009) Polychlorinated biphenyls in indoor dust from Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States implications for human exposure. Chemosphere, 76 (2) 232-238. 

Indoor air concentrations of PCBs in 34 homes near New Bedford Harbor, Massachusetts were measured between April 1994 and April 1995 during the dredging of contaminated river sediments. PCB levels in indoor air samples ranged from 7.9 to 61 ng/m in homes closest to the dredging operation compared to more distant houses which had levels ranging from 5.2 to 51 ng/m (Vorhees et al. 1997). However, these indoor concentrations exceeded outdoor concentrations by an average ratio of 32, indicating the importance of indoor air concentrations to human exposures. House dust was also analyzed for PCB... 

In summary, the analysis of organic contaminants in house particulate matter and settled dust should be performed in an effort to characterize human exposure in the indoor environment... 

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