Silicone Wristbands as Personal Passive Samplers

Abstract

Active-sampling approaches are commonly used for personal monitoring, but are limited by energy usage and data that may not represent an individual’s exposure or bioavailable concentrations. Current passive techniques often involve extensive preparation, or are developed for only a small number of targeted compounds. In this work, we present a novel application for measuring bioavailable exposure with silicone wristbands as personal passive samplers. Laboratory methodology affecting precleaning, infusion, and extraction were developed from commercially available silicone, and chromatographic background interference was reduced after solvent cleanup with good extraction efficiency (>96%). After finalizing laboratory methods, 49 compounds were sequestered during an ambient deployment which encompassed a diverse set of compounds including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), consumer products, personal care products, pesticides, phthalates, and other industrial compounds ranging in log Kow from −0.07 (caffeine) to 9.49 (tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate). In two hot asphalt occupational settings, silicone personal samplers sequestered 25 PAHs during 8- and 40-h exposures, as well as 2 oxygenated-PAHs (benzofluorenone and fluorenone) suggesting temporal sensitivity over a single work day or week (p < 0.05, power =0.85). Additionally, the amount of PAH sequestered differed between worksites (p < 0.05, power = 0.99), suggesting spatial sensitivity using this novel application.

Improvements in pollutant monitoring: Optimizing silicone for co-deployment with polyethylene passive sampling devices

“…Contaminant screening for additional compounds was performed with GC/MS retention time locking Automated Mass Deconvolution Identification Software (AMDIS) in conjunction with created and purchased libraries totaling 1,180 unique compounds. Identification and confirmation criteria has been described previously (O’Connell et al, 2014), but each compound had at least a 60% spectral match before additional confirmation criteria were used for each qualitative determination. Any compounds indentified in blank samplers were removed from data described below or presented in the Supporting Information.…”

The exposome concept: a challenge and a potential driver for environmental health research

“…New sensors relying on information technology are being constantly developed. For example, silicone wristbands, which were able to identify 49 compounds (including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, consumer products, personal care products, pesticides and phtalates) among 30 volunteers, were suggested as an easy-to-use personal passive sampler [14]. In the longer term, high-throughput 'omics technologies (transcriptomics, epigenomics, lipidomics, metabolomics) could help identify exposure biomarkers, and could even allow integration of a wide range of individual exposures in a single measurement.…”

Mechanisms of Breast Implant Toxicity: Will the Real Ringmaster Please Stand Up

“…Recent publications by University of Oregon researchers have added still another dimension to this saga (24,25) . It is alleged that silicone gel can act as a magnet for certain chemicals and toxins that one might encounter in their everyday environment.…”

“…It is already known that silicones attract estrogen molecules, thereby acting as an independent reservoir to disturb the body's equilibrium of normally well-controlled hormone levels (12) . Silicones are also lipophilic, and they readily adhere to fatty acids and phospholipids (including myelin components) as well as adipocytes (24,25) . The chemicals and toxins studied by the Oregon researchers are also lipophilic.…”