Toxic organic pollutants in Greek house dust: Implications for human exposure and health risk

Organic contaminants often documented in house dust include mainly chemicals released from construction materials and consumer products and compounds emitted from indoor combustion activities. The occurrence of major chemical classes of toxic organic pollutants, included polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs), was for the first time investigated in house dust in Greece. The mean concentrations of n-ary sumation 16PAHs, n-ary sumation 20PBDEs, n-ary sumation 7NPAHs and n-ary sumation 15PCBs in house dust were 4650 ng g- 1, 564 ng g-1, 7.52 ng g-1, and 6.29 ng g-1, respectively. Exposure to dust organic contaminants via ingestion, inhalation and dermal absorption was estimated for two age classes (adults and children) and carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks were assessed. The hazard index (HI) for adults and children for PBDEs, PCBs, PAHs and NPAHs in all samples was less than 1 suggesting a very low level of concern for all human age group due to exposure to those chemicals. Total carcinogenic risk via the three exposure pathways (ingestion, inhalation and dermal contact) was within the safe range of 10-6 to 10-4.

Automated summary

The study found various organic contaminants in indoor dust, but the risk level of exposure to these chemicals is low, posing no significant health hazards to humans.