Abstract
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) represent a broad class of chemicals, many of which can be found in indoor air including residential indoor air. VOCs derive from a variety of sources including cleaning products, cooking practices, fragrances and fresheners, hobbies and at-home work behaviors. This study examined residential indoor air in homes (n = 99) in southeast Louisiana using passive organic vapor monitors and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to determine if select VOCs were present, at what concentrations, and if those posed any potential long-term health risks. Twenty-nine VOCs were targeted in cross-sectional analyses using a 48-h sampling period. Twelve VOCs were detected in most of the homes sampled including xylenes, pinenes, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, hexane, pentane, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride. Concentrations of alkanes and BTEX compounds were highly correlated (Spearman’s r > 0.63, p < 0.0001). Using health risk measures (i.e. reference concentrations [RfCs] and inhalation unit risks [IURs]) available from the USEPA non-cancer risk assessments and cancer risk assessments were developed for some of these VOCs. Alkanes and BTEX compounds likely come from the same indoor source(s). Using existing health standards published by the USEPA, no unacceptable non-cancer risks were evident except under extremely high concentrations. Lifetime cancer risks, on the other hand, may well be considered unacceptable for chloroform and benzene (upper IUR) and for the combination of chloroform, benzene, and carbon tetrachloride. These exceeded a 1 in 10,000 cancer risk threshold in 35–50% of our simulations. Further study of residential indoor air in low-income women’s homes in this area is needed. Including a larger number of VOCs may reveal yet more potential health risks.
Highlights
According to time budget research in the US and in Europe, people spend over 90% of their time indoors and around 70% of that indoor time in the h ome[1]
Indoor air quality is as, or more, important than outdoor air quality when it comes to human exposures to many air pollutants and the effects on public health
29% of the women in this study reported smoking tobacco which is higher than the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC)’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System’s estimate of 19.3% in 2015 (BRFSS; accessed on April 10, 2020)
Summary
According to time budget research in the US and in Europe, people spend over 90% of their time indoors and around 70% of that indoor time in the h ome[1]. Indoor air quality is as, or more, important than outdoor air quality when it comes to human exposures to many air pollutants and the effects on public health. While this indoor time includes a considerable amount of time spent in the workplace, much of this time involves time spent in the home. In either situation this is important as the concentrations of some air pollutants can be much higher (2 to 5 times) indoors than they are o utdoors[2]. Indoor air pollution and related human exposures are complex and dynamic
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