title: Assessment of carcinogenic risk from personal exposure to benzo(a)pyrene in the Total Human Environmental Exposure Study (THEES).
abstract: The Total Human Environmental Exposure Study (THEES) was an investigation of multimedia exposure to the ubiquitous environmental carcinogen, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP). The three-phase study was conducted in Phillipsburg, New Jersey and involved the participation of 14-15 individuals (8-10 homes) during each 14-day monitoring period. Microenvironmental sampling of air, food, water and soil indicated that environmental exposure to BaP was primarily through air and food. Exposure and risk estimates were, therefore, based on the results of personal monitoring of breathing zone air and prepared food samples. Based on a comparison of the range and magnitude of inhalation and dietary BaP exposures, food ingestion was clearly the predominant exposure to pathway. The relative contributions of other potential sources of community exposure to BaP (e.g., soil and drinking water ingestion) were also assessed. The excess cancer risk estimates for food ingestion were consistently greater than those for personal air, reflecting both the predominantly higher BaP exposures through the diet and the higher carcinogenic potency value for oral exposure. Overall, the total lifetime risk from personal exposure to BaP for nonsmokers in the community was estimated at 10(-5). In identifying risk reduction options, it is important to account for the observation that personal activities, lifestyle, and diet strongly influenced individual exposures to BaP.
authors.affiliation: Division of Science and Research, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, Trenton.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Post
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Lioy
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Waldman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Greenberg
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D001564:Benzo(a)pyrene / Q000032:analysis*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D009515:New Jersey; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D001564:Benzo(a)pyrene