Grantee Research Project Results
2002 Progress Report: Improving Human Health Risk Assessment for Tetrachloroethene by Using Biomarkers and Neurobehavioral Testing in Diverse Residential Populations
EPA Grant Number: R827446Title: Improving Human Health Risk Assessment for Tetrachloroethene by Using Biomarkers and Neurobehavioral Testing in Diverse Residential Populations
Investigators: Storm, Jan , Aldous, Kenneth , Gensburg, Lenore , Lin, Shao
Current Investigators: Storm, Jan , Aldous, Kenneth
Institution: The State University of New York
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: October 1, 1999 through September 30, 2002 (Extended to September 30, 2004)
Project Period Covered by this Report: October 1, 2001 through September 30, 2002
Project Amount: $610,790
RFA: Children's Vulnerability to Toxic Substances in the Environment (1999) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Children's Health , Human Health
Objective:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers tetrachloroethene (PERC) to be a problematic pollutant in urban areas. The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) documented high levels of PERC in indoor air of apartments located in buildings with dry cleaning facilities in New York State; others have reported this throughout the nation and the world. Inadvertent residential exposures to PERC provide a unique opportunity to evaluate possible adverse effects associated with PERC; and assess whether children are more likely to experience adverse effects from PERC exposure than adults.
The objectives of this research project are to: (1) assess residential PERC exposure by measuring residential PERC air levels and biomarkers of exposure in exhaled breath and blood of residents of buildings with and without dry cleaners; (2) characterize the relationships between residential PERC air levels and biomarkers of exposure; (3) assess nervous system function in PERC-exposed and non-PERC-exposed residents; and (4) evaluate exposure/dose-response relationships between environmental and/or biological measures of exposure and nervous system function. Exposed study participants will optimally include 60 parent-child pairs residing in buildings with an operating, PERC-using dry cleaner; non-exposed (control) study participants will include 60 parent/child pairs residing in buildings without an operating dry cleaner or any other identifiable source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This study is consistent with a recommendation by the Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee to EPA Administrator Carol Browner that the National Emission Standard governing emissions of PERC be re-evaluated to determine if it is protective of children's health.
Progress Summary:
During this reporting period, 73 households with an eligible parent/child pair were enrolled. Forty-two parent/child pairs reside in exposed (dry cleaner) buildings and 31 parent/child pairs reside in control buildings. This represents 70 percent and 52 percent of the original study goals of 60 exposed and control parent/child, respectively. As noted below, only 5 (12 percent) households in exposed (dry cleaner) buildings have levels of PERC exceeding the NYSDOH residential air guideline of 100 µg/m3. Currently, we are evaluating strategies for identifying greater numbers of households with elevated PERC (e.g., expanding the study area to include underserved, lower income areas, targeting buildings that have been the subject of citizen complaints to New York City DOH. (Preliminary results suggest this strategy may be successful-PERC levels in three out of three households located in East Harlem range from 300-600 µg/m3.) Unless we identified and enrolled greater numbers of households with elevated PERC in the study it will be difficult to fully accomplish the above aims.
We completed study participation for 40 exposed parent/child pairs and 26 parent/child pairs. Preliminary review of data collected to date suggests that:
· Indoor air PERC levels are slightly elevated in households located in exposed (dry cleaner) buildings (geometric mean = 18 µg/m3; range 0.6-400 µg/m3) compared to control buildings (geometric mean = 3 µg/m3; range nd-92 µg/m3).
· Exhaled breath PERC levels collected at home and at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center appear to be, on average, 4-5 times greater in residents of exposed buildings compared to control buildings, but detailed evaluation is ongoing.
· Blood levels of PERC appear to be slightly higher in residents of exposed buildings (0.2 µg/L) compared to control buildings (0.07 µg/L), but detailed evaluation is ongoing.
· Visual contrast sensitivity (VCS) performance of adults or children residing in exposed (dry cleaner) buildings does not appear to differ, on a group basis, from performance of adults or children residing in control buildings.
· Preliminary review of adults and children from the five households with the highest level of PERC (200-300 µg/m3), or with the highest level of PERC in exhaled breath at home (85-150 µg/m3) suggests they may have a slight deficit at the highest spatial frequency of VCS.
· No effect in color vision of building residents has been observed so far.
We included children exposed to possibly 1,000-2,000 µg/m3 PERC while attending a day care center adjacent to a dry cleaner in this study to evaluate whether such exposures have had long-lasting neurotoxic sequelae. Performance of about 15 day care children on clinical neurological diagnostic tests, the NES-2, VCS, and color vision is being assessed and compared to performance by age, gender, and day care center attendance matched control children. Results are not yet available.
Future Activities:
During the next reporting period, we will: (1) recruit in Harlem, and possibly other underserved areas in NY City; (2) recruit sufficient numbers of control parent/child pairs in all targeted neighborhoods; (3) complete neurological evaluation of day care center (and matched control) children exposed to PERC; and (4) refine and validate physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for PERC to account for residential exposures to children.
It is anticipated that collection of all experimental data will be completed and that preliminary statistical analyses of the data collected will be conducted.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 6 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
tetrachloroethene, perchloroethylene, PERC, exposure, health effects, sensitive populations, solvents, indoor air, children, vulnerability, epidemiology, visual contrast sensitivity, color vision, NES-2, New York City, New York, NY, volatile organic compounds, VOCs, dry cleaners., Health, RFA, Scientific Discipline, PHYSICAL ASPECTS, Geographic Area, Toxics, Susceptibility/Sensitive Population/Genetic Susceptibility, Health Risk Assessment, Physical Processes, Risk Assessments, State, genetic susceptability, 33/50, Molecular Biology/Genetics, Children's Health, Human Health Risk Assessment, multilinear regressional model, environmental hazard exposures, sensitive populations, biological markers, neurodevelopmental toxicity, Tetrachloroethylene, human exposure, childhood cancer, New York (NY), neurobehavioral effects, residential populations, children, exposure, children's vulnerablity, dose response model, indoor air, air pollution, assessment of exposure, human health risk, inhalationRelevant Websites:
Full Final Technical Report (PDF, pp139, 1.3MB)
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.