Exposure to air pollution is one of the most significant environmental threats to public health and has been linked to millions of premature deaths annually worldwide. Although air pollution is monitored by measuring ambient particulate matter loadings, it is challenging to estimate indoor and outdoor exposure of individuals to air pollutants. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are important constituents of air pollution known to cause adverse health effects. In this study we employed an innovative research tool, wastewater-based epidemiology or WBE), to help determine confirmed exposures of community members to VOCs by way of measuring urinary metabolites of VOC in composited wastewater at the city- and neighborhood-level. Municipal wastewater composited over 24-hours was collected from two communities in the US and analyzed for urinary biomarkers of VOC exposure using isotope-dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Among 36 analytical targets indicative of human exposure to VOCs, 23 were detected in community wastewater sample at least once. Average concentrations of VOC metabolites in municipal wastewater ranged from 7 ng/L to 22,000 ng/L. This is the first study to utilize community wastewater for assessing the population-wide exposure to VOC air pollutants in a community. Preliminary results identified the WBE approach used here as a cost-effective, rapid and practical tool for assessing air pollution exposures at the community level and without reliance on knowledge about indoor air quality, ambient air quality and time of residents spent outdoors.

Community-wide assessment for exposure to volatile organic compounds: A proof of concept study

ACS Spring 2022

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