Legacy Chemical Pollutants in House Dust of Homes of Pregnant African Americans in Atlanta
Kathryn J. Barr,
Cierra L. Johnson,
Jordan Cohen,
Priya D’Souza,
Estefani Ignacio Gallegos,
Chia-Chen Tsai,
Anne L. Dunlop,
Elizabeth J. Corwin,
Dana Boyd Barr,
P. Barry Ryan,
Parinya Panuwet
Affiliations
Kathryn J. Barr
Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Cierra L. Johnson
Laboratory of Exposure Assessment and Development for Environmental Research, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Jordan Cohen
Laboratory of Exposure Assessment and Development for Environmental Research, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Priya D’Souza
Laboratory of Exposure Assessment and Development for Environmental Research, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Estefani Ignacio Gallegos
Division of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Chia-Chen Tsai
Laboratory of Exposure Assessment and Development for Environmental Research, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Anne L. Dunlop
Division of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Elizabeth J. Corwin
School of Nursing, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
Dana Boyd Barr
Laboratory of Exposure Assessment and Development for Environmental Research, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
P. Barry Ryan
Laboratory of Exposure Assessment and Development for Environmental Research, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Parinya Panuwet
Laboratory of Exposure Assessment and Development for Environmental Research, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
We developed and applied a method for measuring selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) (i.e., polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), organochlorine pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)) in dust collected from pregnant African Americans (AAs) in Atlanta using isotope dilution gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Limits of quantification were ranged from 0.10 to 2.50 ng/g dust. NIST standard reference material measurements demonstrated the robustness of our method. Our accuracies ranged from 82 to 108%, relative standard deviations ranged from 2 to 16%, and extraction recoveries ranged from 76 to 102%. We measured POPs in dust collected from 34 homes of pregnant AAs participating in the Atlanta AA birth cohort study who were enrolled from 2016 to 2019. Concentrations of POPs were detected in all samples with the frequencies of detection ranging from 8 to 100%. Concentrations of PBDE congeners 99 and 47, p,p’-DDT, and PCB153 were detected at some of the highest concentrations with geometric means of 1270, 730, 63.4 and 240 ng/g, respectively. The ratio of DDT/DDE was quite large (~2.7) indicating that p,p’-DDT remains intact in homes for long periods of time. These data demonstrate that care should be taken to remediate POPs in indoor dust, especially in vulnerable, disparate segments of the population.
