Citation:

Ulrich, E., D. Mills, J. McCord, Chris Grulke, A. Richard, S. Newton, K. Hibbert, N. Tulve, K. Mansouri, A. Williams, AND J. Sobus. Exploring Exposomics Using Non-Targeted Analysis. Johns Hopkins University, Department Seminar for Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Baltimore, MD, September 25, 2018.

Impact/Purpose:

Presented at Johns Hopkins University, Department Seminar for Department of Environmental Health and Engineering

Description:

Measuring and understanding the exposome is important to fully understand the origins of disease and ensure that chemicals in commerce are low risk. Non-targeted analysis (NTA) uses unbiased data collection approaches to identify as many chemicals as possible in a single analysis. We conducted a study in a single home to characterize variability in chemicals detected using house dust which showed the number and identity of features found in both size fractions are similar, and different chemical patterns between rooms. Another study looked at differences from homes with and without children including chemical indicators of non-chemical stressors and showed there were a large (~1000) number of chemical features that were either in higher abundance or unique in homes with children.. Finally, EPA's Non-Targeted Analysis Collaborative Trial (ENTACT) evaluates the ability of nearly thirty laboratories using non-targeted analysis methods to correctly identify mixtures of known chemicals with a variety of instrumental and data processing approaches. Initial results show that nearly all participants detected and reported more compounds in the mixtures than were intentionally added, with large inter-lab variability in the number of reported compounds. ENTACT is the first study of its kind to objectively evaluate the performance, domain of applicability, and quality control of NTA methods on a common set of chemicals, providing a benchmark for current methods, and revealing areas for improvement and development.

Record Details: