Silicone wristbands compared with traditional polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure assessment methods

Abstract

Currently there is a lack of inexpensive, easy-to-use technology to evaluate human exposure to environmental chemicals, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This is the first study in which silicone wristbands were deployed alongside two traditional personal PAH exposure assessment methods: active air monitoring with samplers (i.e., polyurethane foam (PUF) and filter) housed in backpacks, and biological sampling with urine. We demonstrate that wristbands worn for 48 h in a non-occupational setting recover semivolatile PAHs, and we compare levels of PAHs in wristbands to PAHs in PUFs-filters and to hydroxy-PAH (OH-PAH) biomarkers in urine. We deployed all samplers simultaneously for 48 h on 22 pregnant women in an established urban birth cohort. Each woman provided one spot urine sample at the end of the 48-h period. Wristbands recovered PAHs with similar detection frequencies to PUFs-filters. Of the 62 PAHs tested for in the 22 wristbands, 51 PAHs were detected in at least one wristband. In this cohort of pregnant women, we found more significant correlations between OH-PAHs and PAHs in wristbands than between OH-PAHs and PAHs in PUFs-filters. Only two comparisons between PAHs in PUFs-filters and OH-PAHs correlated significantly (r_s = 0.53 and p = 0.01; r_s = 0.44 and p = 0.04), whereas six comparisons between PAHs in wristbands and OH-PAHs correlated significantly (r_s = 0.44 to 0.76 and p = 0.04 to <0.0001). These results support the utility of wristbands as a biologically relevant exposure assessment tool which can be easily integrated into environmental health studies. Graphical abstract PAHs detected in samples collected from urban pregnant women.

Keywords: Active sampling; Biomonitoring; Environmental toxicology; Exposome; Passive sampling; Personal monitoring.

Graphical abstract

PAHs detected in samples collected from urban pregnant women

Fig. 1a–c

PAH frequency of detection and concentration in 22 wristbands (a), PUFs (b), and PUFs and filters combined (c). The 20 PAHs measured in both the wristbands and PUFs-filters are represented in this figure. The red dotted line labeled “naphthalenes” includes the sum of three PAHs (naphthalene, 2-methylnaphthalene, and 1-methylnaphthalene). The green solid line labeled “phenanthrenes” includes the sum of three PAHs (phenanthrene, 2-methylphenanthrene, and 1-methylphenanthrene). The dark blue dotted line labeled “MW ≥ 228 g mol⁻¹″ includes the sum of the eight PAHs in this group of 20 PAHs with a molecular weight ≥ 228 g mol⁻¹ (benz[a]anthracene, chrysene/isochrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene, and benzo[ghi]perylene). PAH concentrations are represented on a log scale. For these 20 PAHs, the average LOD for wristband extracts is 0.75 ng extract⁻¹ and that for PUF and filter extracts is 1.0 ng extract⁻¹