Abstract
People spend increasing amounts of time at home, yet the indoor home environment remains understudied in terms of potential exposure to toxic trace metals. We evaluated trace metal (and metalloid) concentrations (As, Cu, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) and health risks in indoor dust from homes from 35 countries, along with a suite of potentially contributory residential characteristics. The objective was to determine trace metal source inputs and home environment conditions associated with increasing exposure risk across a range of international communities. For all countries, enrichments compared to global crustal values were Zn > Pb > Cu > As > Cr > Ni; with the greatest health risk from Cr, followed by As > Pb > Mn > Cu > Ni > Zn. Three main indoor dust sources were identified, with a Pb-Zn-As factor related to legacy Pb sources, a Zn-Cu factor reflecting building materials, and a Mn factor indicative of natural soil sources. Increasing home age was associated with greater Pb and As concentrations (5.0 and 0.48 mg/kg per year of home age, respectively), as were peeling paint and garden access. Therefore, these factors form important considerations for the development of evidence-based management strategies to reduce potential risks posed by indoor house dust. Recent findings indicate neurocognitive effects from low concentrations of metal exposures; hence, an understanding of the home exposome is vital.
Highlights
Given the amount of time people spend indoors, residential environments are perhaps the most important, yet understudied environments with respect to human exposure to contaminants
This study examines the following research questions: (1) How do household dust trace metals and modeled health risks vary across countries? (2) What is the relevance of home characteristics and their association to increased trace metal concentrations in dust? (3) Can we identify a common international trace metal signature in residential indoor dust?
Tukey−Kramer multiple comparison tests show that Australia, the USA, and New Zealand are more significantly different than all other countries in their individual trace metal concentrations in dust (Supporting Information Table 7.3)
Summary
Given the amount of time people spend indoors, residential environments are perhaps the most important, yet understudied environments with respect to human exposure to contaminants. In particular, spend most of their time at home and indoors,[3] and their developing bodies are more sensitive to trace metal exposures,[3,4] as are fetuses.[5] Due to this evolving dependency on the indoors, identifying, characterizing, and mitigating the risk of household contaminants at an international scale is of high importance. Participants follow simple instructions on collecting and sending their dust, along with an online questionnaire, which records demographic and household information (e.g., age of home, home construction material, etc.) On receipt of their data, participants are provided guidance on trace metal concentrations specific to their living environment, associated health risks, and intervention strategies to reduce their potential exposure. This study examines the following research questions: (1) How do household dust trace metals and modeled health risks vary across countries? (2) What is the relevance of home characteristics and their association to increased trace metal concentrations in dust? (3) Can we identify a common international trace metal signature in residential indoor dust?
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