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A review of soil and dust ingestion studies for children

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 24, pages 545–554 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Soil and dust ingestion by children may be important pathways of exposure to environmental contaminants. Contaminated soil and dust may end up on children’s hands and objects, because they play close to the ground. These contaminants can be ingested by children, because they have a tendency to place objects, including their fingers, in their mouths. Assessing exposure through this pathway requires information about the amount of soil and dust ingested by children. Estimates of soil and dust ingestion and information on the prevalence of the behavior have been published in the literature, but research in this area is generally limited. Three methodologies have been used to quantify soil and dust ingestion rates. In this paper, these are referred to as the tracer element method, the biokinetic model comparison method, and the activity pattern method. This paper discusses the information available on the prevalence of soil and dust ingestion behavior, summarizes the three methodologies for quantifying soil and dust ingestion, and discusses their limitations. Soil ingestion data derived from studies that use these methodologies are also summarized. Although they are based on different estimation approaches, the central tendency estimates of soil and dust ingestion derived from the three methodologies are generally comparable.

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Acknowledgements

The editorial assistance provided by Vicki Soto is gratefully acknowledged. We also appreciate the contributions of Becky Cuthbertson, Laurie Schuda, Nicolle Tulve, and Karen Bradham. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the US Environmental Protection Agency.

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  1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, USA

    Jacqueline Moya & Linda Phillips

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  1. Jacqueline Moya
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Correspondence to Linda Phillips.

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Moya, J., Phillips, L. A review of soil and dust ingestion studies for children. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 24, 545–554 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2014.17

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