EPHECT III: Health risk assessment of exposure to household consumer products.
In the framework of the EU EPHECT project (Emissions, Exposure Patterns and Health Effects of Consumer Products in the EU), irritative and respiratory effects were assessed in relation to acute (30-min) and long-term (24-h) inhalation exposure to key and emerging indoor air pollutants emitted during household use of selected consumer products. A detailed Health Risk Assessment (HRA) was performed for five selected pollutants of respiratory health relevance, namely acrolein, formaldehyde, naphthalene, d-limonene and α-pinene. For each pollutant, the Critical Exposure Limit (CEL) was compared to indoor air concentrations and exposure estimates for the use of 15 selected consumer products by two population groups (housekeepers and retired people) in the four geographical regions of Europe (North, West, South, East), which were derived previously based on microenvironmental modelling. For the present HRA, health-based CELs were derived for certain compounds in case indoor air quality guidelines were not available by the World Health Organization for end-points relevant to the current study. For each pollutant, the highest indoor air concentrations in each microenvironment and exposure estimates across home microenvironments during the day were lower than the corresponding acute and long-term CELs. However, considerable contributions, especially to acute exposures, were obtained in some cases, such as formaldehyde emissions resulting from single product use of a floor cleaning agent (82% CEL), a candle (10% CEL) and an electric air freshener (17% CEL). Regarding multiple product use, the case of 30-min formaldehyde exposure reaching 34% CEL when eight product classes were used across home microenvironments, i.e. all-purpose/kitchen/floor cleaning agents, furniture/floor polish, combustible/electric air fresheners, and perfume, needs to be highlighted. Such estimated values should be evaluated with caution, as these may be attributed to the exposure scenarios specifically constructed for the present study, following a 'most-representative worst-case scenario' approach for exposure and health risk assessment.
Dept. of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences - Hospital L. Sacco, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: marilena.trantallidi@unimi.it.
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Trantallidi
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of West Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece; Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Public Health England, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, OX11 0RQ, UK.
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Dimitroulopoulou
National Research Centre for the Working Environment, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Wolkoff
Institute for Health and Consumer Protection, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, 21027 Ispra, VA, Italy.
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Kephalopoulos
Dept. of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences - Hospital L. Sacco, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy.
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Carrer
D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005060:Europe; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D006795:Household Products; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018570:Risk Assessment
D015386:Hazardous Substances
Consumer products; Health risk assessment; Indoor air quality; Inhalation exposure; Limits of exposure; Risk characterization