An Investigation of Homes with High Concentrations of PCDDs, PCDFs, and/or Dioxin-Like PCBs in House Dust
- 23 January 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
- Vol. 6 (3), 188-199
- https://doi.org/10.1080/15459620802694975
Abstract
As part of the University of Michigan Dioxin Exposure Study, the 29 congeners of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls that have World Health Organization consensus toxic equivalency factors were measured in house dust from 764 homes using a population-based sampling design over selected regions in five Michigan counties. Twenty homes had a total toxic equivalency in house dust that was more than 2.5 standard deviations above the mean (i.e., defined to be outliers). This follow-up investigation describes the outlier house dust measurements and corresponding soil measurements and explores possible sources of these toxins in house dust. The congener distributions in the house dust outliers varied and were dominated (i.e., >50% of the total toxic equivalency) by either polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (n = 9), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (n = 1), or dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (n = 9). Likely sources of contamination of house dust were identified in only three cases. In two cases, dust contamination appeared to be related to contaminated soil adjacent to the home; in one case, contamination was related to a source within the home (a carpet pad). In most cases, the source(s) of contamination of house dust could not be identified but appeared likely to be related to uncharacterized sources within the homes. [Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene for the following free supplemental resource: a PDF file containing a summary of baseline and dust outlier interview questions and tables containing PCB, PCDD, and PCDF concentrations in various samples of house dust and soil.]Keywords
This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit:
- Statistical Comparison of Residential Soil Concentrations of PCDDs, PCDFs, and PCBs from Two Communities in MichiganEnvironmental Science & Technology, 2008
- The 2005 World Health Organization Reevaluation of Human and Mammalian Toxic Equivalency Factors for Dioxins and Dioxin-Like CompoundsToxicological Sciences, 2006
- Background Dioxins in House DustsEnvironmental Forensics, 2005
- Building materials as a source of PCB pollution in Bergen, NorwayScience of The Total Environment, 2004
- Extraction and cleanup methods of dioxins in house dust from two cities in Japan using accelerated solvent extraction and a disposable multi-layer silica-gel cartridgeChemosphere, 2003
- Phthalates, Alkylphenols, Pesticides, Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers, and Other Endocrine-Disrupting Compounds in Indoor Air and DustEnvironmental Science & Technology, 2003
- Toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) for PCBs, PCDDs, PCDFs for humans and wildlife.Environmental Health Perspectives, 1998
- Ubiquitous nature of dioxins: a comparison of the dioxins content of common everyday materials with that of pulps and papersEnvironmental Science & Technology, 1993
- The international toxicity equivalency factor (I-TEF) method of risk assessment for complex mixtures of dioxins and related compoundsChemosphere, 1990
- Estimation of Average Concentration in the Presence of Nondetectable ValuesApplied Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 1990