One of the ultimate goals of environmental chemistry is to find the causal toxicants responsible for human and ecological toxicities. Crumb rubbers are of interest as a potential source of environmental toxicants due to its widespread commercial use, such as artificial turf which is made from recycled car tires. Tire rubbers contain a complex mixture of chemicals, and people are unknowingly exposed to these potentially toxic compounds when playing on artificial turf fields and playgrounds. Anecdotal links between crumb rubber exposure and cancers in athletes have been documented, but current testing may not identify risk due to the complexity and unknown nature. We aim to address this need for comprehensive chemical analysis, exposure measurement, and risk assessment of crumb rubber in artificial turf. While previous studies on crumb rubber focused on well-known contaminants (e.g., metals, PAHs), we hope to reevaluate the risk of crumb rubber exposure through identification of unknown compounds. To accomplish this goal, a novel non-target analysis (NTA) workflow was developed, which utilized the complementary compound coverage from High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS) and Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Py-GC-MS). First, novel crumb rubber extraction methods were developed for comprehensive compound identification, in addition to bioavailability-driven extraction methods for exposure analysis and risk assessment. NTA on our complementary instrumentation platforms allowed for the identification of unknown organic contaminants and possible transformation products. Special attentions were given to deliberately added compounds, which could be more abundant and toxicologically relevant. In addition, toxicity-driven data-dependent analysis was utilized to screen for emerging toxicants. Crumb rubber from different sources were compared, as well as crumb rubbers at different points of aging. In a proof-of-concept study, passive sampling was performed using silicone wrist bands to assess personal human exposure in addition to a novel mix-mode air samplers to capture both polar and non-polar compounds.

In-depth chemical analysis and exposure assessment of crumb rubbers in artificial turf

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