A simple way to track your everyday exposure to chemicals
For one week, 92 preschool-aged children in Oregon sported colorful silicone wristbands provided by researchers from Oregon State University. The children’s parents then returned the bands, which the researchers analyzed to determine whether the youngsters had been exposed to flame retardants. The scientists were surprised to find that the kids were exposed to many polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), chemicals that are no longer produced in the U.S., as well as to organophosphate flame retardants, which are widely used as substitutes for PBDEs.
The results from that wristband study (Environ. Res.2016, DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2016.02.034) remain qualitative—they tell parents whether their child has been exposed to a particular chemical but don’t provide information regarding the amount of exposure. The researchers, led by environmental chemist Kim Anderson, are now working on ways to extract quantitative exposure data from the bands.
Silicone polymers are an attractive material for wristbands because they are more elastic than polymers made from carbon, Anderson says. Silicone polymers are also good mimics of bioavailability because they contain long chainlike structures that form spaces similar in size—about 1 nm in diameter—to pores created by biological polymers in a human cell membrane, she says.
The wristbands are being promoted to the public by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), an environmental group that teamed up with MyExposome on a small project last year. EDF recruited 28 volunteers, mostly EDF staff and board members, to wear the bands for one week. Participants filled out a short activities survey. MyExposome analyzed their bands qualitatively for the suite of 1,400 chemicals.
EDF reported 57 chemicals were found in the bands, including PAHs, pesticides, plasticizers, phthalates, fragrances, preservatives, and flame retardants. Each band contained at least 10 and as many as 27 of the screened chemicals, with an average of 15.
The environmental group has since recruited a more geographically diverse group of volunteers, representing all 50 states and some international regions, to further test the wristbands. “We have now about 5,000 people who have signed up,” says Sarah Vogel, vice president of health programs at EDF.
From NRCA
Trenton H. Cotney
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