Presentation Type
Poster
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Chris Palmer
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Chemistry
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Exposure to woodsmoke, either incidentally during wildfire events or professionally as in the case of wildland firefighters, poses a significant public health concern and prolonged exposure can result in serious health effects. Yet, studies of the health effects of woodsmoke exposure are often challenged by a lack of quantitative exposure information. Active exposure monitors are cumbersome and difficult to employ, and measurement of markers of exposure in urine is complicated by high and variable background levels. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of silicone wristbands as passive samplers combined with headspace gas chromatography to analyze and quantify wood smoke exposures. Silicone wristbands are easily worn by exposure study participants and are known to absorb volatile contaminants from the air, and headspace gas chromatography is a solventless chemical analysis technique suitable for sensitive measurement of absorbed volatile compounds. Procedures have been developed to pre-clean wristbands in a heated vacuum oven to rid them of any background contaminants. Pre-cleaned wristbands were spiked with known levels of volatile compounds benzene (a known carcinogen), toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), which are known volatile components of woodsmoke. These spiked wristbands were analyzed by headspace gas chromatography with flame ionization detection to evaluate and optimize methodology and procedures. Running these spiked samples also allowed for method sensitivity and minimum detection values to be found. Multiple pre-cleaned wristbands were exposed to woodsmoke; one group being exposed on day 1 for 2 hours at a woodsmoke particulate concentration of 0.83 mg/m3, a second group being exposed on day 2 for 2 hours at 1.1 mg/m3, and a final group being exposed for a total of 4 hours over the 2 days. Analysis of these exposed bands revealed high levels of unknown volatile compounds including benzene. BTEX components other than benzene were not detected. This study has demonstrated the utility of silicone wristbands as passive samplers combined with headspace analysis to quantify exposure to volatile compounds in woodsmoke, and that woodsmoke is a significant source of exposure to the carcinogen benzene.
Category
Physical Sciences
Woodsmoke Exposure Analysis
UC South Ballroom
Exposure to woodsmoke, either incidentally during wildfire events or professionally as in the case of wildland firefighters, poses a significant public health concern and prolonged exposure can result in serious health effects. Yet, studies of the health effects of woodsmoke exposure are often challenged by a lack of quantitative exposure information. Active exposure monitors are cumbersome and difficult to employ, and measurement of markers of exposure in urine is complicated by high and variable background levels. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of silicone wristbands as passive samplers combined with headspace gas chromatography to analyze and quantify wood smoke exposures. Silicone wristbands are easily worn by exposure study participants and are known to absorb volatile contaminants from the air, and headspace gas chromatography is a solventless chemical analysis technique suitable for sensitive measurement of absorbed volatile compounds. Procedures have been developed to pre-clean wristbands in a heated vacuum oven to rid them of any background contaminants. Pre-cleaned wristbands were spiked with known levels of volatile compounds benzene (a known carcinogen), toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), which are known volatile components of woodsmoke. These spiked wristbands were analyzed by headspace gas chromatography with flame ionization detection to evaluate and optimize methodology and procedures. Running these spiked samples also allowed for method sensitivity and minimum detection values to be found. Multiple pre-cleaned wristbands were exposed to woodsmoke; one group being exposed on day 1 for 2 hours at a woodsmoke particulate concentration of 0.83 mg/m3, a second group being exposed on day 2 for 2 hours at 1.1 mg/m3, and a final group being exposed for a total of 4 hours over the 2 days. Analysis of these exposed bands revealed high levels of unknown volatile compounds including benzene. BTEX components other than benzene were not detected. This study has demonstrated the utility of silicone wristbands as passive samplers combined with headspace analysis to quantify exposure to volatile compounds in woodsmoke, and that woodsmoke is a significant source of exposure to the carcinogen benzene.