Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13(4), 376; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13040376
Assessment of Exposure to VOCs among Pregnant Women in the National Children’s Study
1
Health Studies, Westat, 1600 Research Blvd, Rockville, MD 20850, USA
2
Tobacco and Volatiles Branch, Division of Laboratory Sciences, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA
3
Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA
4
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Helena Solo-Gabriele and Alesia Ferguson
Received: 4 February 2016 / Revised: 29 February 2016 / Accepted: 16 March 2016 / Published: 29 March 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Children’s Exposure to Environmental Contaminants)
Abstract
Epidemiologic studies can measure exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using environmental samples, biomarkers, questionnaires, or observations. These different exposure assessment approaches each have advantages and disadvantages; thus, evaluating relationships is an important consideration. In the National Children’s Vanguard Study from 2009 to 2010, participants completed questionnaires and data collectors observed VOC exposure sources and collected urine samples from 488 third trimester pregnant women at in-person study visits. From urine, we simultaneously quantified 28 VOC metabolites of exposure to acrolein, acrylamide, acrylonitrile, benzene, 1-bromopropane, 1,3-butadiene, carbon disulfide, crotonaldehyde, cyanide, N,N-dimethylformamide, ethylbenzene, ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, styrene, tetrachloroethylene, toluene, trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, and xylene exposures using ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with an electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI/MSMS) method. Urinary thiocyanate was measured using an ion chromatography coupled with an electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry method (IC-ESI/MSMS). We modeled the relationship between urinary VOC metabolite concentrations and sources of VOC exposure. Sources of exposure were assessed by participant report via questionnaire (use of air fresheners, aerosols, paint or varnish, organic solvents, and passive/active smoking) and by observations by a trained data collector (presence of scented products in homes). We found several significant (p < 0.01) relationships between the urinary metabolites of VOCs and sources of VOC exposure. Smoking was positively associated with metabolites of the tobacco constituents acrolein, acrylamide, acrylonitrile, 1,3-butadiene, crotonaldehyde, cyanide, ethylene oxide, N,N-dimethylformamide, propylene oxide, styrene, and xylene. Study location was negatively associated with the toluene metabolite N-acetyl-S-(benzyl)-l-cysteine (BMA), and paint use was positively associated with the xylene metabolites 2-methylhippuric acid (2MHA) and 3-Methylhippuric acid & 4-methylhippuric acid (3MHA + 4MHA). A near-significant (p = 0.06) relationship was observed between acrylamide metabolites and observation of incense. View Full-TextKeywords:
birth cohort study; pregnant women; tobacco; volatile organic compounds; urinary metabolites; National Children’s Study
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
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Boyle, E.B.; Viet, S.M.; Wright, D.J.; Merrill, L.S.; Alwis, K.U.; Blount, B.C.; Mortensen, M.E.; Moye, J.; Dellarco, M. Assessment of Exposure to VOCs among Pregnant Women in the National Children’s Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 376.
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