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Measuring the emissivity of semi-volatile organic compounds from articles of commerce
Citation:
Nicolas, C., K. Phillips, M. Minto, X. Liu, K. Isaacs, C. Addington, A. Sumner, AND J. Wambaugh. Measuring the emissivity of semi-volatile organic compounds from articles of commerce. Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting, San Antonio,TX, March 11 - 15, 2018. https://doi.org/10.23645/epacomptox.6793724
Impact/Purpose:
This is a late breaking abstract for the SOT annual meeting in San Antonio, TX. This research characterizes the emissivity of chemicals in consumer products -- that is, how likely is a chemical actually to migrate from a product into the environment and (potentially) into a person. This research resulted from the ExpoCast data collection pilots for the RED project.
Description:
The National Academies of Sciences has called for better characterization of potential human exposure to thousands of chemicals from proximate sources such as consumer products and articles of commerce. Existing public databases of chemicals in the indoor environment are limited primarily to consumer products for which material safety data sheets of declared chemicals are available. New, non-targeted analytical chemistry methods are gradually identifying chemicals in articles such as flooring and upholstery. However, the presence of a chemical in an object does not equate with exposure. The emissivity of a chemical from a specific formulation is needed to predict human exposure via multiple routes, including inhalation and dermal. New data and models are needed to characterize the ability of a chemical to emit from its source. The EPA has selected a pilot set of 15 environmental compounds (i.e., flame retardants, plasticizers, and perfluorinated chemicals) to undergo emission rate measurements from solvent extraction of polyurethane foam (PUF) and XAD-2 with gas chromatography and liquid chromatography analysis for 19 articles of commerce (i.e., carpet, clothing), using short-term (30 min) and long-term (10 hr) chamber studies at 37-43°C. The short-term studies yielded a combination of emission rates for 7 compounds in 10 articles while the long-term studies yielded a combination of emissions rates for 11 compounds in 17 articles. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which has been eliminated in U.S. products since 2015, was detected in 7 articles overall. These proof of concept quantitative data on chemical emissions from articles of commerce, allow both more comprehensive exposure assessments for the specific chemicals and articles under study as well as provide the basis for developing new mathematical models for predicting chemical emissivity from formulations. This abstract does not necessarily reflect U.S. EPA policy.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Measuring the emissivity of semi-volatile organic compounds from articles of commerce
MEASURING_EMISSIVITY_IN_ARTICLES_SOT2018_POSTER_EPA_030618_JFW_KAP_CIN (002).PDF (PDF, NA pp, 327.995 KB, about PDF)
NICOLAS_SOT_LATEBREAKING_CHEMICALEMISSIONS_ABSTRACT_010917_FINAL.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 41.264 KB, about PDF)