AAAR 35th Annual Conference October 17 - October 21, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Understanding Children’s Exposure to Trace Metals in Particulate Matter at Home
JESSICA SAGONA, Stuart Shalat, Zuocheng Wang, Maya Ramagopal, Marta Hernandez, Kathleen Black, Gediminas Mainelis, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Abstract Number: 314 Working Group: Aerosol Exposure
Abstract Children’s exposure to trace metals is an area of concern; metals such as lead and chromium are known neurotoxicants that are often found in the home. However, most research on estimating exposure has focused on ingestion rather than the inhalation route. In this study, we present inhalation exposure estimates for children in their homes.
Inhalable particulate matter (PM) was collected via Button Aerosol Sampler (SKC, Inc.) during two sampling campaigns that investigated the performance of the Pretoddler Inhalable Particulate Environmental Robotic (PIPER) sampler, a robot designed to replicate changes in children’s breathing zones, in New Jersey homes. PM measurements by Button sampler on PIPER were compared to those by a stationary sampler (first campaign) and to those by personal sampler worn by 2-year-olds (second campaign). Fourteen randomly-selected pairs of filters from the first campaign and eleven pairs from the second were analyzed via ICP-MS for 23 metals. Of these, eight metals were consistently found above the detection limit, including lead, chromium, manganese, copper, and nickel.
In the first campaign, initial results indicate that PIPER typically measured slightly higher trace metal concentrations than the stationary sampler, with median lead concentrations in ng/m$^3 of 16.4 (PIPER) and 11.6 (stationary) and chromium concentrations of 75.2 (PIPER) and 68.8 (stationary). In the second campaign, higher concentrations were measured by the personal sampler than PIPER, with median lead values of 10.0 (personal sampler) vs. 6.4 (PIPER) and chromium values of 81.1 (personal sampler) vs. 74.4 (PIPER).
Our results demonstrate the importance of sampling method when seeking personal exposure estimates for children, as the samplers tended to vary in their measured ranges of metal concentrations. This study also characterizes PM trace metal concentrations in homes, and additional work will focus on identifying nearby sources for each home that might have contributed to the measured metal concentrations.