The DustEx model for calculating human exposure to semivolatile organic chemicals (SVOC) in dust: Evaluation and validation

摘要

For substances used in consumer products, human exposure via dust is often suggested to be a potentially important exposure pathway. In the DustEx project the relative contribution of the dust ingestion pathway was systematically evaluated by using a model framework consisting of a combination of published models, which describe the transfer of substances from consumer products into the indoor environment (DustEx model). On the basis of the calculated indoor air and dust concentrations and further conservative parameters the exposure of consumers via the dust pathway was calculated and compared to other exposure pathways. This inter-pathway comparison was performed (1) in a generic way by exploring the chemical property space and (2) by selecting realistic case studies for different types of consumer products. The development and evaluation of the DustEx model was supported by a small-scale field study under controlled conditions. In this study both environmental monitoring and biomonitoring were conducted. Deuterium-labelled semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) were embedded in artificial consumer products and placed into regular inhabited apartments. At regular time intervals indoor air and settled dust was sampled to assess transfer into these media under realistic conditions. Altogether two measurement campaigns were conducted in 5 (first campaign) or 3 inhabited apartments (second campaign). During the second campaign, at regular intervals spot urine samples were taken from at least one inhabitant per apartment and analysed for two of the nine substances. For the evaluation and validation of the DustEx model the respective SVOCs were modelled and the estimates for environmental concentrations compared to the environmental monitoring. The biomonitoring results were compared to systemic human exposure estimates based on dust ingestion.