Discovery of common chemical exposures across three continents using silicone wristbands

Abstract

To assess differences and trends in personal chemical exposure, volunteers from 14 communities in Africa (Senegal, South Africa), North America (United States (U.S.)) and South America (Peru) wore 262 silicone wristbands. We analysed wristband extracts for 1530 unique chemicals, resulting in 400 860 chemical data points. The number of chemical detections ranged from 4 to 43 per wristband, with 191 different chemicals detected, and 1339 chemicals were not detected in any wristband. No two wristbands had identical chemical detections. We detected 13 potential endocrine disrupting chemicals in over 50% of all wristbands and found 36 chemicals in common between chemicals detected in three geographical wristband groups (Africa, North America and South America). U.S. children (less than or equal to 11 years) had the highest percentage of flame retardant detections compared with all other participants. Wristbands worn in Texas post-Hurricane Harvey had the highest mean number of chemical detections (28) compared with other study locations (10–25). Consumer product-related chemicals and phthalates were a high percentage of chemical detections across all study locations (36–53% and 18–42%, respectively). Chemical exposures varied among individuals; however, many individuals were exposed to similar chemical mixtures. Our exploratory investigation uncovered personal chemical exposure trends that can help prioritize certain mixtures and chemical classes for future studies.

Assessment of Multipollutant Exposures During Pregnancy Using Silicone Wristbands

“…Sample extracts were combined and quantitatively reduced to one mL under nitrogen (Turbo-Vap L, Biotage, Charlotte, NC, USA; RapidVap, LabConco, Kansas City, MO, USA; N-EVAP 111, Organomation Associates, Berlin, MA, USA). Sample extracts were stored at 4 • C prior to additional cleanup by solid phase extraction (SPE) (15,17,18). Sample aliquots of 100 uL underwent SPE using acetonitrile (Cleanert S C18, Agela Technologies, Torrance, CA, USA), were solvent exchanged to iso-octane (OA-SYS N-EVAP 111, Organomation Associates, Berlin, MA, USA), and stored at 4 • C prior to instrument analysis.…”

“…Silicone wristbands are a promising passive monitoring technology, and their use among sensitive populations, including pregnant women, is supported by their non-invasive and minimally disruptive nature (15)(16)(17)(18)(19). Individuals wear the silicone wristbands for an established period (e.g., 1 week), during which time a wide variety of chemical pollutants are absorbed by the silicone during their typical activities; the chemicals are then extracted from the wristbands and their concentrations are quantified.…”

“…This emerging technology has been applied in several settings (15), including the assessment of exposures to flame retardants among maternal-child pairs (21) and school children (18) and the assessment of exposures to pesticides among agricultural workers (22) and non-occupationally exposed persons (23). However, there is limited evidence characterizing their use among pregnant populations; to date, a single study has used the wristbands to assess exposures to PAHs among pregnant women (16) and no studies have reported on their use to assess multipollutant exposures of many chemical classes.…”

Artificial turf: chemical flux and development of silicone wristband partitioning coefficients

“…In addition to environmental sampling, silicone samplers in the present study have been used as wearable samplers (wristbands) in numerous applications to detect personal chemical exposures, e.g. (Dixon et al 2019;O'Connell et al 2014). Side-by-side deployment of passive samplers of two materials allowed for calculation of silicone-air partition coefficients (K silicone − air ):…”

“…Chemicals passively sorb into the material up to equilibrium concentrations, but environmental concentrations can still be determined when the samplers are still in the uptake phase. The polyethylene samplers have been used extensively in environmental monitoring and research, and the silicone samplers described in this work are identical to silicone wristbands in previous publications that measure personal exposure (e.g., Anderson et al 2017;Dixon et al 2019;O'Connell et al 2014). Using two polymers concurrently enables a wider range of compounds to be sampled (O'Connell et al 2014) and analyzed with multiple techniques.…”