Chemicals of concern in building materials: A high-throughput screening.

Chemicals used in building materials can be a major passive emission source indoors, associated with the deterioration of indoor environmental quality. This study aims to screen the various chemicals used in building materials for potential near-field human exposures and related health risks, identifying chemicals and products of concern to inform risk reduction efforts. We propose a mass balance-based and high-throughput suited model for predicting chemical emissions from building materials considering indoor sorption. Using this model, we performed a screening-level human exposure assessment for chemicals in building materials, starting from product chemical composition data reported in the Pharos Building Products Database for the USA. Health risks and MAximum chemical Contents from High-Throughput Screening (MACHTS) were determined, combining exposure estimates with toxicity information. Exposures were estimated for > 300 unique chemical-product combinations from the Pharos databases, of which 73% (25%) had non-cancer (cancer) toxicity data available. We identified 55 substances as chemicals of high concern, with actual chemical contents exceeding MACHTS by up to a factor 105, in particular diisocyanates and formaldehyde. This stresses the need for more refined investigations to select safer alternatives. This study serves as a suitable starting point for prioritizing chemicals/products and thus developing safer and more sustainable building materials.

Zürich Statement on Future Actions on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs).

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are man-made chemicals that contain at least one perfluoroalkyl moiety, [Formula: see text]. To date, over 4,000 unique PFASs have been used in technical applications and consumer products, and some of them have been detected globally in human and wildlife biomonitoring studies. Because of their extraordinary persistence, human and environmental exposure to PFASs will be a long-term source of concern. Some PFASs such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) have been investigated extensively and thus regulated, but for many other PFASs, knowledge about their current uses and hazards is still very limited or missing entirely. To address this problem and prepare an action plan for the assessment and management of PFASs in the coming years, a group of more than 50 international scientists and regulators held a two-day workshop in November, 2017. The group identified both the respective needs of and common goals shared by the scientific and the policy communities, made recommendations for cooperative actions, and outlined how the science-policy interface regarding PFASs can be strengthened using new approaches for assessing and managing highly persistent chemicals such as PFASs. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4158.

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (PBDE) Accumulation in Farmed Salmon Evaluated Using a Dynamic Sea-Cage Production Model.

Food is an important source of human exposure to hazardous chemicals. Chemical concentration in a food item depends on local environmental contamination, production conditions, and, for animal-derived foods, on feed. Here, we investigate these influences on the accumulation of individual polybrominated diphenyl ether congeners (PBDEs) in farmed Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar). We develop a dynamic model over a full sea-cage salmon production cycle. To assess the influence of metabolic debromination on PBDE congener profiles, in vitro measurements of debromination rates in fish liver cells were extrapolated to whole-body metabolic rate constants. Model results indicate that the dominant factors governing PBDE concentration in Atlantic salmon fillet are uptake via contaminated feed and fish growth, whereas the influence of metabolic debromination is minor. PBDE concentrations in fish feed depend on several factors, including the geographic origin of fish feed ingredients, which are produced and traded globally. Human exposure to PBDE via salmon consumption is less influenced by environmental concentrations at the location of salmon farming than by environmental concentrations influencing feed components. This dependence of PBDE concentrations in salmon on the origin and composition of feed reveals the complexity of predicting contaminant concentrations in globally traded food.