vvEPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Background and Goals
Background: A near-field exposure pathway of interest concerns
consumer products that are manufactured using recycled waste. The
chemical composition of a recycled product can be influenced by the
original composition of the source material and any potential additions
that occur during the recycling process, intentional or not. Non-targeted
(NTA), or more specifically, suspect screening, analysis can provide a
high-throughput method for rapidly identifying these chemicals. Data
mining techniques can be applied to find clusters of chemicals that either
co-occur in particular products or have similar functional use, in an
attempt to identify novel exposure sources. These clusters can later be
prioritized for confirmation using chemical standards.
Goals: Identify chemical composition of virgin and recycled consumer
products using suspect screening analysis. Use hierarchical clustering to
identify potential exposure sources via co-occurring chemicals.
Workflow for Recycled and Virgin Product Analysis
Sample
Selection
Analytical -
Chemistry
Data
Analysis
Recycled Products
7 Product Categories
154 Unique Products
D C
Virgin Products
I
6 Product Categories
56 Unique Products
Extraction with DCM or Hexane
Solvent
I
1 ppm Internal Standard Added
J 	
GC x GC/TOF-MS
Workflow indicating selection of samples, the analytical chemistry
performed to identify chemicals, and how this data was analyzed.
Chemicals Identified in Recycled and Virgin Products
9n^1-bulylocty^n(iofanihene	" ° °
2-(2h-benzotriazo!-2-yl)-4.6-bis( 1,1 -dimethylpropyl)phenol*

! I i
It I
! Ill
I III s
§. §>§.£ -I
1121 Confirmed or Tentatively Identified Chemicals
Occurrence of confirmed and tentatively identified chemicals in virgin
and recycled products. The number of products in which each product
was identified is indicated by the size of the data point.
Functional Uses for Identified Chemicals
Fabric Products
flavouring and nutrient
Construction Materials
Functional uses of confirmed and tentatively identified chemicals
found jri product groups
Hierarchical Clustering of Identified Chemicals
Recycled
Ms-f £~S3B* - 1aES:[T- ¦'= WB '
_ - ¦ -S. II '•&**!
i - jmag *
•«H&" -
13
''fl
-11. i
• EF.
-1Z	 - V
Virgin

l'..


of

^	4^ \0
Hierarchical clustering of confirmed and tentatively identified
chemicals within product groups. Clusters of lower interest are
omitted for clarity.
Clusters of Chemicals Identified in Products
Cluster ID
Number of
Chemicals
Primary Categories of Occurrence
Frequently Occurrinq Uses, Sectors, or Functions
'
13
Recycled products: children's products, construction
products, food contact materials
Pesticide actives and inerts
2
7
Recycled and virgin children's products, construction
materials, food contact materials, plastic home/auto
Plastics and plastics manufacturing (including intermediates), polymer
additives (UV stabilizer, antioxidant, odor agent)
5
•
Recycled paper products
Manufacture of ink, paints/coatings, or paper surface treatments;
pesticides
6
7
Recycled construction materials, fabric products, and
paper products; virgin fabric products
Manufacture of ink, paints, or dyes; use in ink, toner, and colorant
products
»
15
Recycled tire products
Intermediates, rubber components, and processing aids used in the
manufacture of rubber products or rubber tires, or in recycling
10
'
Recycled and virgin fabric and paper products; virgin
children's products and food contact materials
Manufacture of plastics, including plasticizers or plasticizer precursors
and other polymer additives.

22
Recycled and virgin paper products and fabric products
Cleaning product, ink, and apparel manufacturing; solvents, fragrances,
biocides. dyes, flame retardants
13
27
Recycled and virgin paper products
Dyes and dye manufacturing, fragrances, pigments and pigment
manufacturing
16
«
Children's products
An alternative plasticizer used in children's products due to its low
toxicity; adhesives, colorants, and chemicals used in their production
23

Recycled fabric and paper products
Fragrances, flavorants, manufacturing of chemicals, cleaning and
washing
29
11
Recycled and virgin fabric products
Flame retardants, fragrances, apparel manufacturing
#

Recycled and new food contact materials
Polymer additives (e.g., odor agent, stabilizers): intermediates
Clusters of chemicals identified as co-occurring in multiple products
and/or across multiple product categories
www.epa.gov/research
Innovative Research for a Sustainable Future
The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the policies of the US EPA

-------