Consumer Product Chemicals in Indoor Dust: A Quantitative Meta-analysis of U.S. Studies.
Indoor dust is a reservoir for commercial consumer product chemicals, including many compounds with known or suspected health effects. However, most dust exposure studies measure few chemicals in small samples. We systematically searched the U.S. indoor dust literature on phthalates, replacement flame retardants (RFRs), perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), synthetic fragrances, and environmental phenols and estimated pooled geometric means (GMs) and 95% confidence intervals for 45 chemicals measured in ≥3 data sets. In order to rank and contextualize these results, we used the pooled GMs to calculate residential intake from dust ingestion, inhalation, and dermal uptake from air, and then identified hazard traits from the Safer Consumer Products Candidate Chemical List. Our results indicate that U.S. indoor dust consistently contains chemicals from multiple classes. Phthalates occurred in the highest concentrations, followed by phenols, RFRs, fragrance, and PFASs. Several phthalates and RFRs had the highest residential intakes. We also found that many chemicals in dust share hazard traits such as reproductive and endocrine toxicity. We offer recommendations to maximize comparability of studies and advance indoor exposure science. This information is critical in shaping future exposure and health studies, especially related to cumulative exposures, and in providing evidence for intervention development and public policy.
Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University , Washington, D.C. 20052, United States.
Susanna D
SD
Mitro
Silent Spring Institute , Newton, MA 02460, United States.
Robin E
RE
Dodson
Health and Environment Program, Natural Resources Defense Council , San Francisco, California 94104, United States.
Veena
V
Singla
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States.
Gary
G
Adamkiewicz
Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University , Washington, D.C. 20052, United States.
Angelo F
AF
Elmi
Health and Environment Program, Natural Resources Defense Council , San Francisco, California 94104, United States.|Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program, University of California San Francisco , San Francisco, California 94143, United States.
Monica K
MK
Tilly
Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University , Washington, D.C. 20052, United States.
Ami R
AR
Zota
D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor; D004391:Dust; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005411:Flame Retardants; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans
D004391:Dust; D005411:Flame Retardants