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Robert G. Lewis,¹ Christopher R. Fortune,² Robert D. Willis,² David E. Camann,³ and Jeffrey T. Antley⁴

¹National Exposure Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
²ManTech Environmental Technology, Inc., Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
³Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
⁴Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

Abstract

House dust is a repository for environmental pollutants that may accumulate indoors from both internal and external sources over long periods of time. Dust and tracked-in soil accumulate most efficiently in carpets, and the pollutants associated with dust and soil may present an exposure risk to infants and toddlers, who spend significant portions of their time in contact with or in close proximity to the floor and who engage in frequent mouthing activities. The availability of carpet dust for exposure by transfer to the skin or by suspension into the air depends on particle size. In this study, a large sample of residential house dust was obtained from a commercial cleaning service whose clients were homeowners residing in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (Research Triangle) area of North Carolina. The composite dust was separated into seven size fractions ranging from < 4 to 500 µm in diameter, and each fraction was analyzed for 28 pesticides and 10 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) . Over 20% of the fractionated dust sample consisted of particles < 25 µm in diameter. Fourteen pesticides and all 10 of the target PAHs were detected in one or more of the seven size-fractionated samples. Sample concentrations reported range from 0.02 to 22 µg/g ; the synthetic pyrethroids cis- and trans-permethrin were the most abundant pesticide residue. The concentrations of nearly all of the target analytes increased gradually with decreasing particle size for the larger particles, then increased dramatically for the two smallest particle sizes (4-25 µm and < 4 µm) . Key words: dust composition, dust exposure, house dust, PAH, particle size, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Environ Health Perspect 107:721-726 (1999) . [Online 29 July 1999]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1999/107p721-726lewis/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to R.G. Lewis, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory, MD-44, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711-2055 USA. Telephone: (919) 541-3065. Fax: (919) 541-3527. E-mail: lewis.bob-dr@epa.gov

The authors thank R.W. Vanderpool, D. Van Arsdale, W.F. Gutknecht, and C.E. Rodes (Research Triangle Institute) for useful discussions and assistance ; F.T. Blanchard and W.D. Ellenson (ManTech Environmental Technology) for technical support and sample handling ; and A. Yau, M. Ortiz, J. Voos, and H. Edrisi (Southwest Research Institute) for sample extraction and analysis.

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development funded, managed, and collaborated in the research described here under contract 68-D5-0049 to ManTech Environmental Technology, Inc. and contract 68-D5-0040 to the Research Triangle Institute. It has been subject to agency review and approved for publication.

Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

Received 25 February 1999 ; accepted 17 May 1999.