science in ACTION

BUILDING A SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION FOR SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS

NEW METHODS IN 21st CENTURY EXPOSURE SCIENCE

Background:

The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), through its Science
to Achieve Results (STAR) grant
program, is awarding $4.5 million
to universities to conduct
innovative research to advance
methods for characterizing real-
world human exposure to
chemicals associated with
consumer products in indoor
environments.

EPA received a total of 33 grant
proposals and is awarding
research funding to five of those
universities. The universities will:

1.	Develop and/or apply
innovative technologies and
methods to characterize the
presence and co-occurrence of
suites of semivolatile chemicals
(dozens to hundreds) in real-
world indoor environments
associated with the emissions
from and use of consumer
products.

2.	Generate data to advance
the scientific basis of exposure
predictions by providing values
for key model parameters,
building confidence in model
assumptions, and confirming
model predictions for relevant
pathways.

3.	Develop and/or apply
innovative technologies and
methods to profile chemicals and
related metabolites associated
with consumer products in
biological media.

University of California, Davis
Award: $900,000
Project: Tracking Semivolatile
Organic Compounds Indoors:
Merging Models and Field
Sampling to Assess
Concentrations, Emissions, and
Exposures

The research project will measure
for possible semivolatile organic
compounds in indoor dust from
homes that agreed to participate
in a field study. The
measurements will help estimate
possible SVOC emissions and
exposures. The project will also
evaluate/refine multiple exposure
models including indoor exposure
and air-to-skin transdermal uptake
models. The research will result in:
new analytical methods to
measure multiple semivolatile
organic compounds (SVOCs) in
indoor dust, additional knowledge
about the distribution and
occurrence of SVOCs found in
indoor dust, and the refinement of
exposure models that can be used
to predict exposure to
compounds, specifically when
exposure to the chemical occurs
through the dermal pathway (i.e.
the skin).

Duke University
Award: $900,000
Project: Residential Exposure of
Young Children to SVOCs

The research project will study 50
families who agreed to participate
in a study that will measure
possible exposure to a wide range
of SVOCs that could be emitted
from sources found in their homes
(such as products they use in the
home). The project will measure
possible exposures by collecting:
wipe samples from children's
hands, wipe samples from
consumer products (furniture,
vinyl flooring, insulation, etc)
already in their homes, air and
dust samples from the home,
serum and urine samples from
family members as well as their
responses to questions about diet,
home characteristics and
behavioral patterns. All the
collected samples will be
evaluated using statistical analysis
and will be compared to existing
exposure models. The research
will result in the first data source
of SVOC levels from indoor air in

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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

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homes, additional knowledge
about multiple exposures. This will
improve the understanding of
exposure to mixtures, the
identification of links between
specific products in the home and
children's exposure levels, and the
refinement of models used to
predict indoor exposures to
SVOCs.

University of California, San

Francisco

Award: $900,000

Project: A Non-targeted method

for measuring multiple chemical

exposures among a

demographically diverse

population of pregnant woman in

Northern California

The research project will use an
innovative biomonitoring method
to evaluate everyday exposure to
over 700 chemicals (classified as
Environmental Organic Acids) and
the extent to which these
exposures vary among different
racial/ethnic and socio-economic
groups of 200 pregnant women.
Environmental Organic Acids have
chemical structures similar to
hormones, increasing the
potential for endocrine disruption.
Many of these chemicals are used
extensively in consumer products
that people use every day but are
not included in most
biomonitoring studies. Blood
samples have already been
collected from 200
demographically diverse pregnant
women (30% white, 30% Latino,
10% African American and 12%
Asian) who agreed to participate
in this study and are receiving
prenatal care from two clinics.
One clinic serves primarily low
income patients and the other

primarily high income. The
research will result in providing
new data on the extent to which
pregnant women are exposed to
chemicals and help prioritize
chemicals for potential risks. It will
also result in an improved
understanding of racial, ethnic and
economic differences in chemical
exposure.

University of Michigan
Award: $900,000
Project: 3- dimensional micro-gas
chromatography device for rapid
and sensitive indoor air chemical
exposure assessment

The research project will develop
a portable automated device that
can be used for rapid analysis of
hundreds of SVOCs for indoor
exposure assessment and will then
test the device using about 150
chemicals from various categories
of indoor exposures. The research
will result in a new technology
that can be used to characterize
the presence of hundreds of
SVOCs and provide quantitative
information about the distribution
of hundreds of indoor chemicals.
The results are vital to evaluating
human exposure to SVOCs and
reducing health risks associated
with those exposures.

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University
Award: $900,000
Project: Rapid methods to
estimate exposure to SVOCs in
indoor environments

The research project will evaluate
two rapid methods to estimate
exposures to SVOCs. The first
method will characterize a specific
indoor product and then estimate

exposure. The second approach
will characterize exposures in a
particular indoor environment, for
example indoor air, and then
estimate exposure. The research
will result in two validated models,
one that can be used to make
rapid estimates of exposures to
SVOCs released from specific
products used indoors and the
second can be used to make rapid
estimates of exposure to a wide
range of SVOCs. When combined
with rapid estimates of toxicity
and exposure from EPA's high-
throughput research, the rapid
estimates of exposure will allow
risk-based prioritization of a wide
range of SVOCs.

Information about the Awards:

http://epa.gov/ncer/2013newmet
hods

More Information on EPA's CSS
Research:

http://www.epa.gov/research/che
micalscience/

CONTACT:

Intaek Hahn,

EPA/ORD

National Center for Environmental
Research

Hahn.lntaek(a)epa.Eov

January 2015

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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

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