Good hygiene decreases exposure to toxic chemicals
Interview
KATHLEEN MOORE
fries, sandwiches, and chips with 2008, 18, 2–19). Lorber commends We all know that we can reduce unwashed hands is a likely route the new work for being among the our risk of exposure to viruses and by which people could unwittingly first to provide hard data on sourc bacteria by washing our hands be consume PBDEs. The paper also es of PBDE uptake other than food, fore we eat. New research in ES&T points out that PBDEs may be ab noting that the new findings are in (pp 3329–3334) suggests that good sorbed directly into the body via line with his estimates. hygiene may also help protect peo the skin. Because PBDEs are used in ple—especially children—from The new work may help explain many consumer products and taking up persistent organic pollut why the limited data avail ants (POPs) from everyday ob able on children’s exposure jects like TVs and cell phones. to PBDEs show that children A team led jointly by can take up levels that are Heather Stapleton, an assis much higher than those of the tant professor at Duke Univer rest of the population. Young sity’s Nicholas School of the children put their hands in Environment, and Tom Web their mouths much more than ster, associate chairman of the adults do, which in turn sug Boston University School of gests that their exposure will Public Health’s environmen be significantly higher, Web tal health department, mea ster says. sured the concentrations of The research also “suggests PBDE flame retardants on the that adults with higher handhands of 33 U.S. volunteers, to-mouth contact frequen including 6 children. They cies, [such as] smokers [and] used sterile gauze pads in a nail biters, may be receiving hand-wipe procedure devel exposure . . . and maybe this oped for assessing exposure to explains why a small part of contaminants like pesticides the population has such high in occupational settings. exposure,” Stapleton says. When the researchers be “PBDEs are very unusual in gan the project, they weren’t that we have seen some peo certain they would detect any ple with levels 50 times higher PBDEs adhering to people’s than the median,” explains hands, Webster recalls. To Linda Birnbaum, director of their surprise, they found PB EPA’s Experimental Toxicolo DEs on every wipe sample col gy Division. The uptake range lected, and in some cases the Children may be especially likely to take up PBDEs by touching consumer goods like TVs and then putfor most other persistent and levels were quite high. Plug ting their hands in their mouths. bioaccumulative chemicals is ging that data into exposure much smaller, she says. models “suggest[s] hand-toIn addition to PBDEs, Staple have been found in house dust, mouth contact could be a primary ton and colleagues detected other many researchers suspect that route of exposure,” Stapleton says. flame retardants on the hands of dust is a major source of PBDEs. This is important because, al their study participants. She and How people are taking up that though food is the main source of Webster are currently trying to as dust has been unclear, but Staple people’s exposure to most other sess how well different hand-wash ton, Webster, and their colleagues POPs—including PCBs, dioxins, ing approaches remove PBDEs and hypothesize that “contact with and banned pesticides like DDT— other contaminants from people’s PBDE-containing products (e.g., other research has made clear that hands. “I’m sure that other fat-sol TVs, remote controls, cell phones) food is not the major source of PB uble chemicals like PCBs, PAHs, and/or house dust may lead to the DEs and other brominated flame and perfluorinated compounds are adsorption of these chemicals to retardants. Earlier this year, Matt partitioning to the skin oils as well,” hand or skin oils.” From there, the Lorber of the U.S. EPA’s National Stapleton says. All of these com PBDEs on the skin may be inadver Center for Environmental Assess pounds could be inadvertently in tently ingested if people put their ment estimated that more than gested via hand-to-mouth contact, hands in their mouths. 80% of people’s overall exposure to Stapleton and Webster point out. The researchers say that eating PBDEs comes from nonfood sourc —KELLYN BETTS oily finger foods such as French es (J. Expo. Sci. Environ. Epidemiol. 3124 ■ Environmental Science & Technology / May 1, 2008
