You are here:
PAH EXPOSURES OF NINE PRESCHOOL CHILDREN
Citation:
Wilson, N K., J. C. Chuang, AND C. Lyu. PAH EXPOSURES OF NINE PRESCHOOL CHILDREN. POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS 21(3):247-259, (2000).
Impact/Purpose:
The overall objectives of CTEPP were to measure the aggregate exposures of approximately 260 preschool children and their adult caregivers to low levels of a suite of pesticides and organic pollutants that the children may encounter in their everyday environments, and to apportion the routes of exposure and estimate the relative contributions of each route.
Description:
The exposures to 20 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) of 9 children, ages 2-5 yr, were measured over 48 hr at day care and at home. Sampled media included indoor and outdoor air, floor dust, outdoor play area soil, hand surface, and solid and liquid food. Urine samples were collected for metabolite analysis. Diaries of the children's activities during the sampling period were also kept.
Significant positive correlations between media were found for total PAH in indoor air with floor dust (p<0.001), and for total PAH in outdoor air with floor dust (p<0.05). Also at the p<0.05 level, the B2 PAH (probable human carcinogens) were correlated in play area soil with outdoor air, and in outdoor with indoor air. Total PAH and B2 concentrations were correlated in play area soil and in floor dust (p<0.05).
The relative importance of the exposure pathways differed for total PAH and B2 PAH. For total PAH, which included both volatile and semi-volatile compounds, inhalation was most important, then dietary ingestion, then non-dietary ingestion. In contrast, for the B2 PAH only, non-dietary ingestion was most important, then dietary ingestion, and inhalation was least important.
Differences in the children's PAH exposures were small between day care and home, and also between children from low-income and from middle-income families.
The information in this document has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under Contract 68-D4-0023 to Battelle. It has been subjected to Agency review and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation for use.