Grantee Research Project Results

2023 Progress Report: Characterizing Residential PFAS Exposure Pathways among Children and Adults using Multimedia Measurements and Questionnaires

EPA Grant Number: CR840430
Title: Characterizing Residential PFAS Exposure Pathways among Children and Adults using Multimedia Measurements and Questionnaires
Investigators: Dodson, Robin , Knappe, Detlef , Schaider, Laurel , Salamova, Amina
Institution: Silent Spring Institute , Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University , North Carolina State University
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: July 1, 2022 through May 12, 2025
Project Period Covered by this Report: July 1, 2022 through June 30,2023
Project Amount: $250,000
RFA: COLLECTION OF CONCORDANT MULTIMEDIA MEASUREMENTS TO EVALUATE PFAS HUMAN EXPOSURE PATHWAYS (2021) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Children's Health , Urban Air Toxics , Endocrine Disruptors , Heavy Metal Contamination of Soil/Water , Human Health , Air , Safer Chemicals , PFAS Treatment

Objective:

Our first objective is to characterize residential exposures to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by measuring volatile and semivolatile PFAS in air and dust and total fluorine (TF) and extractable organofluoride (EOF) in dust in homes with children and adults. Our second objective is to evaluate associations between PFAS concentrations in air and dust and home characteristics, including flooring type and reported consumer product use. The overarching goal of this study is to better characterize important PFAS exposure pathways among vulnerable groups (especially children) in communities with drinking water contamination and in the general population.

Progress Summary:

Over our first year, we made great progress towards accomplishing our research objectives by developing and implementing protocols for recruitment, sample and data collection, data management, and data analysis. We developed a new questionnaire to capture information about sources of PFAS from building materials and consumer products and information that will aid in the interpretation of the indoor air results. We developed a Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) to guide our sample and data collection and analysis protocols that was approved by EPA in November 2022. We established recruitment strategies and materials to enroll a subset of households in Ayer, MA, who are participating in the Silent Spring Institute-led MA PFAS & Your Health Study, part of the ATSDR PFAS Multi-Site Health Study. Our study protocols and instruments were approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in April 2023 and were approved by EPA in May 2023. 

We launched data collection in mid-May 2023. Our study design includes two home visits per household, approximately four weeks apart. During Visit #1, we obtain informed consent, administer a questionnaire about their home and behaviors in the home, and set up a passive air sampler. During Visit #2, we take down the air sampler, collect a house dust sample, and administer a follow-up questionnaire. In the first year of the project, we trained four research assistants to conduct home visits and prepared sampling equipment to collect air and dust samples specifically for PFAS. As of June 30, 2023, we had conducted four Home Visit #1s and two Home Visit #2s. We aim to conduct home visits in a total of 50 homes in Ayer, MA, by the beginning of 2024.

Future Activities:

We expect sample collection from homes in Ayer, MA, to be completed by Winter 2024. We will continue with our quality assurance checks during this period. After all samples have been collected, indoor air samples and house dust samples will be shipped to Dr. Salamova’s laboratory at Emory University for targeted PFAS analysis. Additional aliquots of dust will also be shipped to Dr. Knappe’s laboratory at NC State University for TF and EOF analysis. Silent Spring Institute researchers will assess the precision, bias, sensitivity, representativeness, completeness, and comparability of all data reported by the laboratories prior to any data analysis. Study participants will also receive a report containing their individual results and a summary of the overall study findings. Reports will be generated using Silent Spring’s NIH-funded Digital Exposure Report-back Interface (DERBI). Data analysis will include data collected from this study as well as data collected through the MA PFAS and Your Health Study. This comprehensive dataset will allow us to achieve the following aims: 

1. Evaluate associations between PFAS levels in indoor air and house dust for a broader range of PFAS than has been studied previously to characterize the extent of PFAS exposures from inhalation and ingestion of dust among adults and children. 
2. Determine the fraction of total PFAS in dust that is captured by current targeted PFAS analytical methods by combining targeted analysis with TF and EOF analysis and estimate the fraction of total PFAS in dust that is missing from current methods. 
3. Characterize sources of PFAS to indoor environments by correlating measured PFAS levels in indoor air and dust with reported consumer product usage and information about building materials. 
4. Evaluate major sources of PFAS exposure among adults and children by combining questionnaire results, measurements of air and dust, and PFAS blood levels in participants. 

1. Enhance interpretation of PFAS blood test results among participants by identifying important predictors of exposure from individual household measurements and questionnaire data.

Supplemental Keywords:

exposure, risk assessment, children’s health, Massachusetts, PFAS

Relevant Websites:

PFAS Home Study - Silent Spring Institute Exit

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

2024 Progress Report

Final Report