Environmentally persistent free radicals in household dust: longitudinal and seasonal trends
Year: 2023
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: BACKGROUND AND AIM: Epidemiological links between air pollution and adverse health outcomes are strong, but the mechanism(s) remain obscure. A newly recognized combustion by-product, environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs), may be the missing link. EPFRs persist for extended periods of time in the environment, however very little is known about the presence of EPFRs inside homes where prolonged exposure is likely to occur. The objective of this study is to explore the presence of EPFRs in household dust and ascertain if EPFR concentration is stable across time and season. METHOD: The ORChID/ELLF cohort is a longitudinal birth cohort (n=158) with dust samples collected from the family vacuum cleaner at multiple time points. EPFR characteristics were assessed with electron paramagnetic resonance. Our team developed an algorithm to estimate oxygen-weighted concentration and impact score for risk of adverse health outcomes. Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test and Fisher’s exact tests were used to assess seasonal differences. A simple mixed-effects linear regression, with random intercepts on participant ID, was employed for longitudinal analysis of EPFR concentration in households that did not move. RESULTS: 83 participants returned 238 dust samples. EPFRs were measured in virtually all samples. Most households were exposed to medium (39%) or high (21%) impact EPFRs. Concentration was stable across visits, except for lower concentration in summer (p=0.05), Oxygen-weighted EPFRs were not stable. There was a seasonal trend with concentration (p=0.01), oxygen weighted concentration (p=0.01) and biological impact (p=0.05) all significantly lower in summer months. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the concentration of EPFRs in household dust are stable across time in households that did not move, but the oxygen-centred radicals are more sensitive to changes. These findings suggest that exposure to EPFRs occurs in the home and may be a significant place for exposure to highly biologically reactive EPFRs.
Source: ISEE Conference Abstracts
Institutions: The University of Queensland, Louisiana State University
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4390965324