Presentation Type
Poster
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Chris Palmer
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Chemistry
Abstract / Artist's Statement
As the people of Montana know, wood smoke from wildfires during the summer can have a negative effect on health. Exposure to smoke produced by wildfires is a health concern worldwide. With many Montana residents working as wildland firefighters during the summer, their exposure to the many compounds from smoke with negative health effects is high and so the concern for their health is high as well. Many past studies have measured the quantities of particulate matter in the smoke as the main health concern, but exposure to volatile compounds produced remains understudied. This research focuses on improving a method of quantitative measurement of exposure to these compounds using silicone wristbands as passive samplers. This study developed a method of wristband cleaning to minimize chemical waste and ensure reuse of wristbands in the future. The study also developed a method to extract analytes of interest from the wristbands and quantify a few volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with known ill health effects. The focus of this study was to ensure that the wristbands would give consistent results after multiple exposures to analytes. Wristbands were spiked with various concentrations from solutions of the analytes of interest. After allowing the spiked wristbands to equilibrate, they were extracted while considering green chemistry. This research can lead to use of silicone wristbands being used as passive samplers with wildland firefighters to quantify exposures. These data could be used to estimate exposure of firefighters to the harmful chemicals in wood smoke.
Category
Physical Sciences
Video Presentation
The Use of Silicone Wristbands as Passive Samplers for Measurement of Wood Smoke Analytes
As the people of Montana know, wood smoke from wildfires during the summer can have a negative effect on health. Exposure to smoke produced by wildfires is a health concern worldwide. With many Montana residents working as wildland firefighters during the summer, their exposure to the many compounds from smoke with negative health effects is high and so the concern for their health is high as well. Many past studies have measured the quantities of particulate matter in the smoke as the main health concern, but exposure to volatile compounds produced remains understudied. This research focuses on improving a method of quantitative measurement of exposure to these compounds using silicone wristbands as passive samplers. This study developed a method of wristband cleaning to minimize chemical waste and ensure reuse of wristbands in the future. The study also developed a method to extract analytes of interest from the wristbands and quantify a few volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with known ill health effects. The focus of this study was to ensure that the wristbands would give consistent results after multiple exposures to analytes. Wristbands were spiked with various concentrations from solutions of the analytes of interest. After allowing the spiked wristbands to equilibrate, they were extracted while considering green chemistry. This research can lead to use of silicone wristbands being used as passive samplers with wildland firefighters to quantify exposures. These data could be used to estimate exposure of firefighters to the harmful chemicals in wood smoke.