Increased Indoor Exposure to Commonly Used Disinfectants During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic requires frequent disinfecting of the indoor environment. Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs or “quats”) are the major class of chemicals widely used as disinfectants in consumer products. While disinfection is necessary for a safe environment during the pandemic, the increased use of QACs is concerning as exposure to these compounds has been associated with adverse effects on reproductive and respiratory systems. We have determined the occurrence and distribution of 19 QACs in 46 residential dust collected before and during the outbreak of COVID-19. All QACs were detected in more than 90% of the samples at concentrations ranging from 1.95 to 531 μg/g (median 58.9 μg/g). Higher QAC concentrations were found in dust collected before the COVID-19 pandemic and in homes with higher disinfecting frequencies (p < 0.05). In addition, 7 products most frequently used in these homes were analyzed, and QACs were detected at concentrations reaching up to 16,600 mg/L. The QAC profiles in dust and in products were similar, suggesting that these products can be a significant source of QACs. Our findings indicate that the indoor exposure to QACs is widespread, raising concerns about increased exposure to these chemicals during the ongoing pandemic.We thank the participating households for donating dust. The MapMyEnvironment program and related sampling effort is partially supported by NSF award ICER-1701132 to Filippelli and the Environmental Resilience Institute, funded by Indiana University’s Prepared for Environmental Change Grand Challenge Initiative

Indoor Exposure to Commonly Used Disinfectants During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic requires frequent disinfecting of the indoor environment. Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs or “quats”) are the major class of chemicals widely used as disinfectants in consumer products. While disinfection is necessary for a safe environment during the pandemic, the increased use of QACs is concerning as exposure to these compounds has been associated with adverse effects on reproductive and respiratory systems. We have determined the occurrence and distribution of 19 QACs in 46 residential dust collected before and during the outbreak of COVID-19. All QACs were detected in more than 90% of the samples at concentrations ranging from 1.95 to 531 μg/g (median 58.9 μg/g). Higher QAC concentrations were found in dust collected before the COVID-19 pandemic and in homes with higher disinfecting frequencies (p < 0.05). In addition, 7 products most frequently used in these homes were analyzed, and QACs were detected at concentrations reaching up to 16,600 mg/L. The QAC profiles in dust and in products were similar, suggesting that these products can be a significant source of QACs. Our findings indicate that the indoor exposure to QACs is widespread, raising concerns about increased exposure to these chemicals during the ongoing pandemic

Elevated Levels of Ultrashort- and Short-Chain Perfluoroalkyl Acids in US Homes and People

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) make up a large group of fluorinated organic compounds extensively used in consumer products and industrial applications. Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), the two perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) with 8 carbons in their structure, have been phased out on a global scale because of their high environmental persistence and toxicity. As a result, shorter-chain PFAAs with less than 8 carbons in their structure are being used as their replacements and are now widely detected in the environment, raising concerns about their effects on human health. In this study, 47 PFAAs and their precursors were measured in paired samples of dust and drinking water collected from residential homes in Indiana, United States, and in blood and urine samples collected from the residents of these homes. Ultrashort- (with 2 or 3 carbons [C2–C3]) and short-chain (with 4–7 carbons [C4–C7]) PFAAs were the most abundant in all four matrices and constituted on average 69–100% of the total PFAA concentrations. Specifically, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA, C2) and perfluoropropanoic acid (PFPrA, C3) were the predominant PFAAs in most of the samples. Significant positive correlations (n = 81; r = 0.23–0.42; p < 0.05) were found between TFA, perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA, C4), and perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA, C7) concentrations in dust or water and those in serum, suggesting dust ingestion and/or drinking water consumption as important exposure pathways for these compounds. This study demonstrates that ultrashort- and short-chain PFAAs are now abundant in the indoor environment and in humans and warrants further research on potential adverse health effects of these exposures

Evaluating a Tap Water Contamination Incident Attributed to Oil Contamination by Nontargeted Screening Strategies

The present study applied nontargeted screening techniques as a novel approach to evaluate the tap water samples collected during the “4.11” tap water pollution incident occurred on April 11, 2014 in Lanzhou in west China. Multivariate analysis (PCA and OPLS-DA) of about 3000 chemical features obtained in extracts of tap water samples by ultrahigh-pressure liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS) analysis showed significantly different chemical profiles in tap water from pollution regions versus reference regions during the event. These different chemical profiles in samples from different regions were not observed in samples collected during the nonpollution period. The compounds responsible for the differences in profiles between regions were identified as naphthenic acids (NAs) and oxidized NAs (oxy-NAs) after the sample extracts underwent bromination to explore saturations, dansylation to identify hydroxylations and corresponding MS/MS mode analysis. A consistent finding was further observed in the targeted analysis of NA mixtures, demonstrating that the Lanzhou “4.11” tap water pollution incident could be attributed to oil spill pollution, and NA mixtures would be a marker for oil contamination. Such evaluations can help to rapidly discriminate pollution sources in accidental pollution events and contribute to regular water monitoring management of water safety issues

Legacy and emerging semi-volatile organic compounds in sentinel fish from an Arctic formerly used defense site in Alaska

The Arctic is subject to long-range atmospheric deposition of globally-distilled semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) that bioaccumulate and biomagnify in lipid-rich food webs. In addition, locally contaminated sites may also contribute SVOCs to the arctic environment. Specifically, Alaska has hundreds of formerly used defense (FUD) sites, many of which are co-located with Alaska Native villages in remote parts of the state. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of SVOC contamination on Alaska’s St. Lawrence Island through the analysis of sentinel fish, the ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius), collected from Troutman Lake located within the watershed of an FUD site and adjacent to the Yupik community of Gambell. We measured the concentrations of legacy and emerging SVOCs in 303 fish samples (81 composites), including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), organophosphate esters (OPEs) and their diester metabolites, and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PBDEs and PCBs were the most abundant SVOC groups found in stickleback with ΣPBDE and ΣPCB median concentrations of 25.8 and 10.9 ng/g ww, respectively, followed by PFAS (median ΣPFAS 7.22 ng/g ww). ΣOPE and ΣOPE metabolite concentrations were lower with median concentrations of 4.97 and 1.18 ng/g ww, respectively. Chemical patterns and distributions based on correlations and comparison with SVOC concentrations in stickleback from other parts of the island suggest strong local sources of PCBs, PBDEs, and PFAS on St. Lawrence Island

Differences in phytoaccumulation of organic pollutants in freshwater submerged and emergent plants

Plants play an important role as sinks for or indicators of semivolatile organic pollutants, however most studies have focused on terrestrial plants and insufficient information has been obtained on aquatic plants to clarify the accumulation of organic pollutants via air-to-leaf vs. water-to-leaf pathways. The presence of p, p&#39;-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p, p&#39;-DDE), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and 9 substituted PAHs (s-PAHs), including oxy-PAHs and sulfur-PAHs, in 10 submerged and emergent plants collected from Lake Dianchi was analyzed in this study. Relatively low concentrations of p, p&#39;-DDE (ND to 2.22 ngig wet weight [ww]) and HCB (0.24-0.84 ng/g ww) and high levels of PAHs (46-244 ng/g ww) and s-PAHs (6.0-46.8 ng/g ww) were observed in the aquatic plants. Significantly higher concentrations of most of the compounds were detected in the leaves of the submerged plants than in those of the emergent plants. The percentages of concentration difference relative to the concentrations in the submerged plants were estimated at 55%, 40%, 10%-69% and 0.5% 79% for p, p&#39;-DDE, HCB, PAHs, and s-PAHs, respectively. The percentages were found to increase significantly with an increase in log Kow, suggesting that the high level of phytoaccumulation of pollutants in aquatic plants is due to hydrophobicity-dependent diffusion via the water-to-leaf pathway and the mesophyll morphology of submerged plants. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</p

<i>p</i>,<i>p</i>′‑DDE Induces Gonadal Intersex in Japanese Medaka (<i>Oryzias latipes</i>) at Environmentally Relevant Concentrations: Comparison with <i>o</i>,<i>p</i>′‑DDT

Previous studies have reported high body burdens of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites in wild fishes worldwide. This study evaluated the adverse effects of 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (<i>p</i>-chlorophenyl)-ethylene (<i>p</i>,<i>p</i>′-DDE) and <i>o</i>,<i>p</i>′<i>-</i>DDT on gonadal development and reproduction by exposing transgenic Japanese medaka (<i>Oryzias latipes</i>) from hatch for 100 days. While both <i>p</i>,<i>p</i>′-DDE and <i>o</i>,<i>p</i>′-DDT induced intersex in male medaka, the lowest observable effective concentration (LOEC) of <i>o</i>,<i>p</i>′-DDT was 57.7 ng/g ww, about 5-fold lower than that (272 ng/g ww) of <i>p</i>,<i>p</i>′-DDE. Since LOECs of both chemicals were comparable to the body concentrations in wild fish, DDT contamination would likely contribute to the occurrence of intersex observed in wild fish. Exposure to <i>o</i>,<i>p</i>′-DDT resulted in much higher expression of vitellogenin in liver of males than <i>p</i>,<i>p</i>′-DDE, accordant with the higher potency of <i>o</i>,<i>p</i>′-DDT than <i>p</i>,<i>p</i>′-DDE to induce intersex. This phenomenon could be partly explained by the significantly elevated levels of 17β-estradiol in plasma of males exposed to <i>o</i>,<i>p</i>′-DDT, in addition to its estrogenic activity via the estrogen receptor. Significantly lower fertilization (<i>p</i> = 0.006) and hatchability (<i>p</i> = 0.019) were observed in the 13 intersex males. This study for the first time demonstrated the induction of intersex and reproductive effects of <i>p</i>,<i>p</i>′-DDE and <i>o</i>,<i>p</i>′-DDT at environmentally relevant concentrations

Adverse Effects of Triclosan and Binary Mixtures with 17β-Estradiol on Testicular Development and Reproduction in Japanese Medaka (<i>Oryzias latipes</i>) at Environmentally Relevant Concentrations

Considering triclosan (TCS) is ubiquitous in surface water and wild fish at relatively high concentrations, its adverse effects on gonadal development and reproduction were evaluated. After exposure for 100 days after hatching, the lowest observable effective concentration (LOEC) of TCS to significantly induce gonadal intersex in male Japanese medaka (<i>Oryzias latipes</i>) was 117.9 ng/L. Courtship frequency and hatching rates in male medaka were significantly inhibited, and the LOECs of TCS to impact courtship frequency and hatching rates were 117.9 and 17.2 ng/L, respectively. Male medaka were also exposed to binary mixtures of 2.2 ng/L 17β-estradiol (βE2) with 2.3 ng/L TCS and 2.4 ng/L βE2 with 117.9 ng/L TCS, and a more severe intersex induction and depressed mating behavior compared to those seen after exposure to only βE2 or TCS were observed. The adverse effects of TCS and binary mixtures with βE2 on testicular development and reproduction in fish at environmentally relevant concentrations are demonstrated here for the first time

Occurrences and Behaviors of Naphthenic Acids in a Petroleum Refinery Wastewater Treatment Plant

Naphthenic acids (NAs) are one class of compounds in wastewaters from petroleum industries that are known to cause toxic effects, and their removal from oilfield wastewater is an important challenge for remediation of large volumes of petrochemical effluents. The present study investigated occurrences and behaviors of total NAs and aromatic NAs in a refinery wastewater treatment plant, located in north China, which combined physicochemical and biological processes. Concentrations of total NAs were semiquantified to be 113–392 μg/L in wastewater from all the treatment units, and the percentages of aromatic NAs in total NAs was estimated to be 2.1–8.8%. The mass reduction for total NAs and aromatic NAs was 15 ± 16% and 7.5 ± 24% after the physicochemical treatment, respectively. Great mass reduction (total NAs: 65 ± 11%, aromatic NAs: 86 ± 5%) was observed in the biological treatment units, and antiestrogenic activities observed in wastewater from physicochemical treatment units disappeared in the effluent of the activated sludge system. The distributions of mass fractions of NAs demonstrated that biodegradation via activated sludge was the major mechanism for removing alicyclic NAs, aromatic NAs, and related toxicities in the plant, and the polycyclic NA congener classes were relatively recalcitrant to biodegradation, which is a complete contrast to the preferential adsorption of NAs with higher cyclicity (low <i>Z</i> value). Removal efficiencies of total NAs were 73 ± 17% in summer, which were higher than those in winter (53 ± 15%), and the seasonal variation was possibly due to the relatively high microbial biotransformation activities in the activated sludge system in summer (indexed by O₃–NAs/NAs). The results of the investigations indicated that biotransformation of NA mixtures by the activated sludge system were largely affected by temperature, and employing an efficient adsorbent together with biodegradation processes would help cost-effectively remove NAs in petroleum effluents