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New research finds some wood floor finishes are a likely source of
PCB exposure
A Silent Spring Institute case study published on 17 January 2008
in the online open
access journal Environmental Health suggests that old wood floor finishes
in some homes may be an overlooked source of exposure to the now banned environmental pollutants polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
Link
to press release (PDF)
Link to article (Highly accessed) (Open Access)
Link to media coverage
Background information
on Silent Spring Institute's Household Exposure Study
Because people spend a lot of their time at home, household environments
are an important source of chemical exposures. The many chemicals in building
materials and household products coupled with limited ventilation and slow
chemical degradation indoors (away from sun, water, and temperature extremes)
mean that indoor chemical concentrations are higher than levels outdoors.
Despite their potential as an important source of exposure, we know very
little about indoor contaminants. To begin to understand the role these
contaminants may have for research on breast cancer, Silent Spring Institute
scientists are investigating women's household exposure to a broad suite
of organic chemicals, identified as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs)
or mammary carcinogens that are important for breast cancer research.
The chemicals targeted for analysis included phthalates, alkylphenols, pesticides, parabens, polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and other estrogenic phenols such as bisphenol A. These chemicals are found in commercial products or building materials. Researchers collected samples of household air and dust and studied participants' urine samples from 120 homes in the Cape Cod Breast Cancer and Environment Study. We also collected detailed information about each woman's home and her use of products containing target chemicals. We also studied activities related to exposure, including wide-area pesticide exposure estimates using GIS.