Grantee Research Project Results
Final 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
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 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:
Funding provided to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) through this U.S. EPA Science To Achieve Results (STAR) grant supported three research projects related to assessing perchloroethylene (perc) exposures and the occurrence of possible associated health effects. These include the New York City (NYC) Perc Project, the Pumpkin Patch Day Care Center (PPDCC) Followup Evaluation, and a compilation and review of historic perc levels in dry cleaner buildings available through files and databases maintained by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the New York City Departments of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYCDOHMH) and Environmental Protection (NYCDEP).
The objectives of this research project were to: (1) assess perc exposures among residents of buildings with co-located dry cleaners; (2) evaluate whether living in a building with a dry cleaner is associated with vision effects; (3) evaluate relationships between measures of perc exposure and vision effects; and (4) assess whether children are disproportionately exposed to or affected by perc exposure compared to adults.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The NYC Perc Project
Health outcome and perc exposure data were obtained over the 2001-2003 period of the study. Sixty-five households in 24 residential buildings with dry cleaners using perc onsite and 61 households in 36 buildings without dry cleaners located in the study area in Manhattan, New York City, New York, participated.
Study participants included children and adults residing in the same household (i.e., child-adult pairs) in buildings with or without a colocated dry cleaner using perc onsite. Visual contrast sensitivity (VCS) and color discrimination ability were the health outcomes evaluated as these endpoints appear to be most sensitive to perc exposure. Indoor air, exhaled alveolar breath, and blood perc levels were the measures of perc exposure evaluated.
Indoor Air Perc Levels. Indoor air perc levels in dry cleaner buildings ranged up to 5,000 μg/m3 and averaged 34 μg/m3. Indoor air perc levels in buildings without dry cleaners ranged up to 92 μg/m3 and averaged 3 μg/m3. Overall, levels of perc in dry cleaner buildings were decreased from levels documented in the study area of New York City prior to 1997 when state and city dry cleaner regulations addressing fugitive perc emissions from colocated dry cleaners were adopted. Prior to 1997, indoor air perc levels in residential dry cleaner buildings ranged up to 25,000 μg/m3 and averaged 340-1,300 μg/m3. Twelve of the 24 residential dry cleaner buildings sampled, however, had at least one apartment with indoor air perc levels above the NYSDOH air guideline of 100 μg/m3. Four buildings had at least one apartment with indoor air levels above 1,000 μg/m3. Seventeen of the 65 apartments sampled had perc levels above 100 μg/m3.
Levels of perc in dry cleaner buildings were not uniform across the study area. Buildings with the highest perc levels were located in minority and/or low-income neighborhoods. Perc levels averaged 72 μg/m3 in buildings located in minority neighborhoods and 18 μg/m3 in buildings located in nonminority neighborhoods. Perc levels averaged 230 μg/m3 in buildings located in low-income neighborhoods and 23 μg/m3 in higher income neighborhoods. Indoor air perc levels also were significantly higher in minority and low-income households (as opposed to neighborhoods). Indoor air perc levels averaged 82.3 μg/m3 in minority households and 16.4 μg/m3 in nonminority households. Indoor air perc levels averaged 105.6 μg/m3 in low-income households and 17.6 μg/m3 in higher income households.
Thus, for people living in buildings with dry cleaners using perc, minority and low-income residents of New York City have greater exposure to perc than nonminority and higher income residents. Reasons for this are being explored by state and city agencies.
Breath and Blood Perc Levels. Both breath and blood perc levels were significantly correlated with indoor air perc levels for adult (R2 = 0.55-0.68) and child (R2 = 0.56-0.66) residents of dry cleaner buildings.
For residents of dry cleaner buildings, mean blood perc levels were significantly higher in minority adults (1.96 ng/mL) and children (1.07 ng/mL) compared to nonminority adults and children (0.54 ng/mL for both). At home, mean breath perc levels in minority adults (28.2 μg/m3) and children (22.0 μg/m3) exceeded levels in nonminority adults (15.3 μg/m3) and children (15.2 μg/m3), but differences were not statistically significant. Immediately after vision testing at the research clinic, mean perc breath levels in minority adults (22.9 μg/m3) and children (12.3 μg/m3) exceeded levels in nonminority adults (9.6 μg/m3) and children (8.5 μg/m3), respectively, but
Conclusions:
Elevated levels of perc in indoor air (> 100 μg/m3) were found in about 25 percent of apartments in dry cleaner buildings sampled as part of the NYC Perc Project. Most of these apartments were located in buildings in minority and/or low-income neighborhoods. Perc levels in breath and blood were directly related to levels of perc in indoor air, and, there was no indication, based on breath and blood perc levels, that children had greater exposures to perc than adults residing in the same household.
All groups of participants scored very well on VCS and color vision tests, and examining clinicians did not identify any participant as having abnormal VCS or color vision. For statistical analyses, participants were categorized by residence in a reference building, in a dry cleaner building and apartment perc less than 100 μg/m3, or in a dry cleaner building and apartment perc greater than 100 μg/m3. The proportion of adults achieving the maximum VCS score at 6 cpd and the proportion of children achieving the maximum VCS score at 6 and 12 cpd decreased significantly as perc exposure increased. Decreased VCS at 12 cpd also was associated with increased blood perc levels among children. Paired analyses suggested no difference in VCS between children and adults residing in the same household. The proportion of adults and children scoring perfectly on the color vision tests was not affected by perc exposure. CCIs, however, were significantly higher among children residing in households with greater than 100 μg/m3 perc. Paired analyses suggested that CCIs were significantly greater among children with greater than 100 μg/m3 than adults residing in the same household.
These results together suggest that detectable changes in VCS and color vision may be associated with residential exposure to perc. The association of increased perc exposure with decreased VCS and color vision test performance is consistent with other studies lending credence to the conclusion that residential perc exposure may be associated with alterations in vision. Sample size of the highest exposed group was small (n ≤ 13), however, which limits confidence in the differences observed. Additionally, ceiling and floor effects, which characterized performance on VCS and color vision tests, respectively, limit usefulness of these tests to evaluate differences in these endpoints among groups. Finally, most participants in the highest exposure category also were minority and/or low income, and these socioeconomic characteristics may have influenced performance on the VCS and color vision tests. Additional research on methods for measuring VCS and color vision, on the influence of socioeconomic factors on these outcomes, and on interpreting subtle alterations in VCS and color vision is warranted.
The Pumpkin Patch Day Care Center Followup Investigation
In August 1998, elevated perc levels (1,800 to 2,400 μg/m3) were detected at the PPDCC, which was operating adjacent to a dry cleaner using perc. Also in August 1998, NYSDOH and the Albany County Health Department, with the support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and EPA, evaluated VCS and color vision among 9 PPDCC employees and neuropsychological function among 18 PPDCC attendees. (Vision was not assessed in children because they were too young to perform reliably on the tests available, and neuropsychological function was not assessed in adults because the tests available were appropriate for children only.) Small decreases in VCS were observed among the employees, although VCS was still within normal limits. No deficits in neuropsychological function were detected in the children. Also, at the time of this original investigation, all employees and attendees of the PPDCC were invited to enroll in the NYSDOH Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Exposure Registry.
Followup evaluations of vision among employees and of vision and neuropsychological function among children possibly exposed to perc at the PPDCC were conducted to assess whether they exhibited long-term effects possibly associated with perc exposure. These evaluations were completed in 2003 by NYSDOH in association with local clinicians.
Five employees participated and completed a comprehensive ophthalmologic exam which included VCS and color vision testing. Color vision was normal in all employees. VCS was normal in four of the five employees evaluated when they were properly refracted. One adult had VCS in one eye that was slightly lower than normal and also had a common eye condition known to lower VCS, which may have contributed to this effect. Because the number of employees evaluated was small, strong conclusions cannot be drawn from these observations and applied to others who may have been exposed similarly to perc. For those evaluated, however, neither color vision nor VCS appears to have been altered by prior perc exposure.
The PPDCC followup evaluation also included a subset of children enrolled in the NYSDOH VOC Exposure Registry who had the greatest possible exposures to perc (i.e., had spent the most hours at the PPDCC prior to and during 1998). They averaged about 9 to 10 years old at the time of the followup and had been exposed to perc for an average of about 3 years while attending preschool at the PPDCC. Seventeen PPDCC children completed a comprehensive ophthalmologic exam that included VCS and color vision testing. Thirteen PPDCC children completed a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. Vision and neuropsychological function also was evaluated in 13 comparison children that were matched by age, gender, and daycare experience to the PPDCC children.
VCS was clinically normal in all PPDCC and comparison children. Analysis of mean VCS scores for matched groups indicated that PPDCC children actually performed significantly better than comparison children at a single VCS frequency. Color vision was clinically abnormal in some PPDCC and some comparison children. There were no significant differences in color vision between matched pairs of PPDCC and comparison children. Analysis of the correlation between hours spent at the PPDCC (i.e., exposed to perc) and color vision showed that color vision test performance was not related to this measure of perc exposure. Neuropsychological function of the PPDCC children was in the average to superior range and did not differ significantly from neuropsychological function of the comparison children.
These findings together indicate that effects on vision or neuropsychological function were not detected among these highly exposed children.
NYSDOH/NYSDEC Review of Perc Levels in Buildings with Colocated Dry Cleaners
To support further evaluation of perc levels in buildings housing dry cleaners, NYSDOH compiled perc levels measured in residences and businesses colocated with perc dry cleaners as well as information provided by NYSDEC, NYCDEP, and NYCDOHMH on dry cleaner operating characteristics and dry cleaner regulation compliance. The data summarized were obtained before, during, and after implementation of the NYSDEC dry cleaner regulations (i.e., 6NYCRR Part 232) that were associated with gradually more restrictive controls over fugitive perc emissions from 1997 to 2003. The data summarized may be of some use in evaluating overall trends in residential perc levels within New York State with respect to dry cleaner regulation implementation and/or dry cleaner operating characteristics.
Overall, the information compiled demonstrates a general decline in indoor air perc levels from the 1993-1997 period (when perc levels averaged 500-600 μg/m3) to the 1997-2003 (when perc level averaged 98-250 μg/m3).
Technical Report:
Full Final Technical Report (PDF, pp139, 1.3MB)
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 6 publications | 1 publications in selected types | All 1 journal articles |
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Type | Citation | ||
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Storm J, Mazor K, Shost S, Serle J, Aldo K, Blount B. Socioeconomic disparities in indoor air, breath, and blood perchloroethylene level among adult and child residents of buildings with or without a dry cleaner. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2013;122:88-97. |
R827446 (Final) |
Exit Exit |
Supplemental Keywords:
tetrachloroethene, PERC, exposure, health effects, sensitive populations, solvents, indoor air, children, vulnerability, epidemiology, visual contrast sensitivity, VCS, color vision, NES-2, New York City, NY, dry cleaners, chlorinated compounds, carcinogen, genetic susceptibility, air pollution, assessment of exposure, biological markers, biomarkers, childhood cancer, children’s vulnerability, does-response model, environmental hazard exposures, human exposure, inhalation, multilinear regression model, neurobehavioral effects, neurodevelopmental toxicity, residential populations, geographic area, health, physical aspects, toxics, 33/50, children’s health, health risk assessment, molecular biology/genetics, physical processes, risk assessments, state, susceptibility/sensitive population/genetic susceptibility, genetic susceptibility, human health risk assessment, New York, NY, tetrachloroethylene, air pollution, assessment of exposure, biological markers, biomarkers, childhood cancer, children, children’s vulnerability, dose response model, environmental hazard exposures, exposure, human exposure, human health risk, indoor air, inhalation, multilinear regressional model, neurobehavioral effects, neurodevelopmental toxicity, residential populations,, RFA, Health, Scientific Discipline, PHYSICAL ASPECTS, Toxics, Geographic Area, Health Risk Assessment, State, Risk Assessments, Susceptibility/Sensitive Population/Genetic Susceptibility, Physical Processes, Children's Health, genetic susceptability, Molecular Biology/Genetics, 33/50, sensitive populations, childhood cancer, biomarkers, dose response model, Tetrachloroethylene, exposure, air pollution, Human Health Risk Assessment, children, assessment of exposure, children's vulnerablity, inhalation, residential populations, human exposure, neurodevelopmental toxicity, indoor air, neurobehavioral effects, multilinear regressional model, biological markers, New York (NY), environmental hazard exposuresRelevant Websites:
Full Final Technical Report (PDF, pp139, 1.3MB)
http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/environ/btsa/fs_perc.htm Exit
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.
Project Research Results
- 2003 Progress Report
- 2002 Progress Report
- 2001 Progress Report
- 2000 Progress Report
- Original Abstract
1 journal articles for this project