Monitoring personal exposure to semi-volatile organic chemicals in Uruguayan school children using silicone wristbands

Abstract

Children are vulnerable to the harmful effects of chemicals and are exposed to many potentially toxic compounds in their daily lives. Due to their ease of implementation and non-invasive, silicone wristbands have emerged as passive samplers to study personal environmental exposures. The Scola-Exposome study in Montevideo, Uruguay investigated the extent of exposure to several classes of chemicals among school children (n=23) aged 6-7 years old, who wore a silicone wristband for 7 days. All wristbands were quantitatively analyzed using gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) at the University at Buffalo for 46 chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), organophosphorus flame retardants (OFPRs), and novel halogenated flame retardants (NHFRs). An average of 13 analytes were detected in each wristband. OPFR concentrations ranged from <LOD to 8920 ng/g band. The sum of PBDE (ΣPBDE) concentrations ranged from <LOD to 433 ng/g band, DDT and its derivatives (DDx) range from 0.2 to 23.5 ng/g band, and ΣPCBs range from <LOD to 8.4 ng/g band. Urban children in Uruguay are exposed to a wide range of chemicals, with nearly half of them to a recent application of DDT. Silicone wristbands show promise for passive, non-invasive exposure assessment to environmental chemicals in children, detecting both legacy and emerging pollutants.