Assessment of carcinogenic risk from personal exposure to benzo(a)pyrene in the Total Human Environmental Exposure Study (THEES)

Journal Article · Thu Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1993 · Air and Waste; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/1073161X.1993.10467179· OSTI ID:5950785

Butler, J P; Post, G B; Lioy, P J; Waldman, J M; Greenberg, A ^[1]

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1. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, Trenton (United States)

The Total Human Environmental Exposure Study (THEES) was an investigation of multimedia exposure to the ubiquitous environmental carcinogen, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP). The three-phase study was conducted in Phillipsburg, New Jersey and involved the participation of 14-15 individuals (8-10 homes) during each 14-day monitoring period. Microenvironmental sampling of air, food, water and soil indicated that environmental exposure to BaP was primarily through air and food. Exposure and risk estimates were, therefore, based on the results of personal monitoring of breathing zone air and prepared food samples. Based on a comparison of the range and magnitude of inhalation and dietary BaP exposures, food ingestion was clearly the predominant exposure to pathway. The relative contributions of other potential sources of community exposure to BaP (e.g., soil and drinking water ingestion) were also assessed. The excess cancer risk estimates for food ingestion were consistently greater than those for personal air, reflecting both the predominantly higher BaP exposures through the diet and the higher carcinogenic potency value for oral exposure. Overall, the total lifetime risk from personal exposure to BaP for nonsmokers in the community was estimated at 10(-5). In identifying risk reduction options, it is important to account for the observation that personal activities, lifestyle, and diet strongly influenced individual exposures to BaP.

• OSTI ID: 5950785
• Journal Information: Air and Waste; (United States), Vol. 43:7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
BENZOPYRENE
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
HEALTH HAZARDS
RISK ASSESSMENT
DIET
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
INHALATION
NEOPLASMS
NEW JERSEY
AROMATICS
CONDENSED AROMATICS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DISEASES
HAZARDS
HYDROCARBONS
INTAKE
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
USA
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
552000 - Public Health