Emissions, fate, exposure and management of chemical contaminants indoors and outdoors

这项提议的动机是公众对有毒化学品的负面影响的担忧。研究目标是通过化学品管理政策和法规为受托保护人类和生态健康的政府机构提供信息和工具，并就将有毒化学品暴露于最低限度的有效方法向公众提供建议。实现这一目标所需的知识包括化学源、排放、运输路径和接触情况。我们建议通过将污染源和排放与人类和生态系统暴露于有毒化学品或“令人担忧的化学品”联系起来来满足这一需求。这些化学品包括溴化阻燃剂和有机磷阻燃剂、邻苯二甲酸酯增塑剂、合成麝香香料、选定的当前使用的杀虫剂以及加拿大化学管理计划优先考虑的其他半挥发性有机化合物(SVOC)。此处感兴趣的SVOC是从产品和材料中发布的。它们在室内的浓度最高，加拿大人90%的时间都在室内度过，因此有机会接触到。然后，SVOCs从室内释放到室外，由于人和活动的汇合，室外城市环境和生态系统具有较高的浓度。 这项提议有四个组成部分。首先，我们的研究将确定和量化室内来源、排放和控制室内SVOC浓度的过程。重点是了解服装在积累室内SVOCs方面的作用。将进行实验，以测量织物从室内空气中吸收SVOC并释放到洗衣水中。这些实验的结果将被用来改进我们的室内SVOC行为的机理模型，并用于预测室内排放。其次，我们建议通过进一步测试我们的新型硅橡胶被动采样器来提高个人对室内SVOC暴露的估计，该采样器用于测量室内SVOC空气浓度和因吸入和接触产品(胸针和腕带设计)而暴露的情况。我们还将与参与者一起进行实验，以测试服装在SVOC暴露中的作用。实验信息将被组合成个人暴露的预测模型。第三，我们将从室内到室外跟踪SVOCs，以估计水生态系统暴露的来源和程度。多伦多将被作为一个案例进行研究。这项工作将需要使用被动采样器测量城市空气和地表水中的SVOCs。水中的测量将被用来估计SVOC对水生生物群的暴露。同样，来自采样活动的信息将被组合到一个模型中，以预测由于室内产品和材料的排放而导致的室外生态系统暴露，包括作为SVOCs从室内到室外的管道的衣物洗涤。最后，从研究中获得的知识将用于在可持续发展的背景下促进化学品管理。

This proposal is motivated by public concern about the negative impacts of toxic chemicals. The research goal is to provide information and tools to government agencies entrusted with protecting human and ecological health through chemical management policies and regulations, and to provide advice to the public on effective ways to minimize exposure to toxic chemicals. The knowledge needed to achieve this goal includes chemical sources, emissions, transport pathways and exposures. We propose to fill this need by connecting sources and emissions through to human and ecosystem exposures to toxic chemicals or “chemicals of concern”. Those chemicals include brominated and organophosphate flame retardants, phthalate plasticizers, synthetic musk fragrances, selected current use pesticides, and other semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) prioritized by Canada's Chemical Management Plan. The SVOCs of interest here are released from products and materials. Their concentrations are highest indoors where Canadians spend 90% of their time and hence have opportunities for exposure. The SVOCs are then released from indoors to outdoors, where outdoor urban environments and ecosystems have high concentrations due to the confluence of people and activities. This proposal has four components. First, our research will identify and quantify indoor sources, emissions and processes controlling indoor SVOC concentrations. A focus will be on understanding the role of clothing in accumulating indoor SVOCs. Experiments will be conducted to measure SVOC uptake by fabrics from indoor air and release to laundry water. Results from these experiments will be used to improve our mechanistic model of indoor SVOC behaviour and to predict indoor emissions. Second, we propose to improve estimates of personal exposure to indoor SVOCs by further testing our novel silicone rubber passive sampler used to measure indoor SVOC air concentrations and exposure due to inhalation and contact with products (brooch and wristband designs). We will also conduct experiments with participants to test the role of clothing in SVOC exposure. Experimental information will be assembled into a predictive model of personal exposure. Third, we will follow SVOCs from indoors to outdoors in order to estimate the sources to, and extent of aquatic ecosystem exposure. Toronto will be used as a case study. This effort will entail measuring SVOCs in urban air and surface waters using passive samplers. The measurements in water will be used to estimate SVOC exposure to aquatic biota. Again, information from the sampling campaign will be assembled into a model to predict outdoor ecosystem exposure due to emissions from indoor products and materials, including clothes laundering as a conduit of SVOCs from indoors to outdoors. Finally, knowledge gained from the research will be used to promote chemical management in the context of sustainability.