Space/Time Trends of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Mixtures in Indoor and Outdoor Air
Year: 2019
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: PDS 65: Exposure assessment: implications for epidemiology, Exhibition Hall (PDS), Ground floor, August 27, 2019, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Background: Exposure assessments that account for mixtures of environmental chemical pollutants are vital to understand true relationships between human exposures and disease outcomes. There is a paucity of geographically space/time resolved datasets of multi-pollutant chemical mixtures in environmental media. The goals of this study were (1) to collect and analyze temporally and geographically resolved air pollutant mixture data using passive sampling techniques and (2) to investigate space/time trends and indoor versus outdoor relationships of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Methods: We deployed a network of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) passive samplers with over 80 unique daily space/time locations, including indoor and outdoor samples, across Eugene Oregon during a one-week period in the summer of 2018. After the field collection, samples were cleaned of debris and liquid solvent extracted. Concentrations for 65 PAHs were quantified with gas chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Preliminary distributional statistical analyses of trends included comparisons of indoor and outdoor concentrations in addition to between site comparisons of spatial and temporal concentrations. Results: The field campaign resulted in the successful creation of a space/time resolved multi-pollutant PAH air quality dataset for developing and testing approaches in exposure modeling of chemical mixtures. Low molecular weight PAHs were the most commonly observed and high molecular weights varied significantly from site to site. Preliminary results indicated spatial variation across outdoor sites was wide-ranging for individual PAHs. As expected, spatial significant variation occurred between indoor sites, which generally exhibited less within-site variance than outdoor sites. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate LDPE as a viable approach for creating gas-phase geographically-referenced air quality chemical mixture datasets. Spatial and temporal variability of PAHs differ between indoor and outdoor sites. Future analyses will investigate temporal and geographic clustering of PAH compounds based on shared physicochemical properties, sources, and attenuation processes.
Source: Environmental Epidemiology
Authors: Messier K, Ghetu C, Rohlman D, Scott R, Tidwell L, Anderson K
Institution: Oregon State University
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,200
OpenAlex ID: W2981657320