Abstract
Inhalation is an important exposure route for volatile water contaminants, including disinfection by-products (DBPs). A controlled human study was conducted on six subjects to determine the respiratory uptake of haloketones (HKs) and chloroform, a reference compound, during showering. Breath and air concentrations of the DBPs were measured using gas chromatography and electron capture detector during and following the inhalation exposures. A lower percentage of the HKs (10%) is released from shower water to air than that of chloroform (56%) under the experiment conditions due to the lower volatility of the HKs. Breath concentrations of the DBPs were elevated during the inhalation exposure, while breath concentrations decreased rapidly after the exposure. Approximately 85–90% of the inhaled HKs were absorbed, whereas only 70% of the inhaled chloroform was absorbed for the experiment conditions used. The respiratory uptake of the DBPs was estimated using a linear one-compartment model coupled with a plug flow stream model for the shower system. The internal dose of chloroform normalized to its water concentration was approximately four times that of the HKs after a 30-min inhalation exposure. Approximately 0.3–0.4% of the absorbed HKs and 2–9% of the absorbed chloroform were expired through lung excretion after the 30-min exposure. The inhalation exposure from a typical 10–15 min shower contributes significantly to the total dose for chloroform in chlorinated drinking water but only to a moderate extent for HKs.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 6 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $43.17 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chinery R.L., and Gleason A.K. A compartmental model for the prediction of breath concentration and absorbed dose of chloroform after exposure while showering. Risk Anal 1993: 13(1): 51–62.
Clemens M., and Scholer H.F. Halogenated organic compounds in swimming pool water. Zentralblatt Hygiene Umweltmedizin 1992: 193(1): 91–98 (in German).
Comroe J.H. Physiology of Respiration, 2nd edn. Year Book Medical Publishers, Chicago, IL, 1974.
Corley R.A., Mendrala A.L., Smith F.A., Staats D.A., Gargas M.L., Conolly R.B., Anderson M.E., and Reitz R.H. Development of a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model for chloroform. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 1990: 103(3): 512–527.
Curieux F., Marzin D., and Erb F. Study of the genotoxic activity of five chlorinated propanones using the sos chromotest, the ames-uctuation test and the newt micronucleus test. Mutat Res 1994: 341: 1–15.
Gargas M.L., Burgess R.J., Voisard D.E., Cason G.H., and Andersen M.E. Partition coefficients of low-molecular-weight volatile chemicals in various liquids and tissues. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 1989: 98(1): 87–99.
Gordon S.M., Kenny D.V., and Kelly T.J. Continuous real time breath analysis for the measurement of half lives of expired volatile organic compounds. J Expos Anal Environ Epidemiol 1992: 1: 41–54.
Gordon S.M., Wallace L.A., Pellizzari E.D., and O’Neill H.J. Human breath measurements in a clean air chamber to determine half lives for volatile organic compounds. Atmos Environ 1988: 22: 2165–2170.
Hansch C., Leo A., and Hoekman D. Exploring QSAR: Hydrophobic, Electronic, and Steric Constants (ACS Professional Reference Book). American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1995.
Heinicke K., Wolfarth B., Winchenbach P., Biermann B., Sehmid A., Huber G., Friedmann B., and Schmidt W. Blood volume and hemoglobin mass in elite athletes of different disciplines. Int J Sports Med 2001: 22(7): 504–512.
Jo W.K., Weisel C.P., and Lioy P.J. Chloroform exposure and the health risk associated with multiple uses of chlorinated tap water. Risk Anal 1990a: 10: 581–585.
Jo W.K., Weisel C.P., and Lioy P.J. Routes of chloroform exposure and body burden from showering with chlorinated tap water. Risk Anal 1990b: 10: 575–580.
Krasner S.W., MeGuire M.J., Jacongelo J.G., Patania N.L., Reagan K.M., and Aieta E.M. The occurrence of disinfection by-products in US drinking water. J AWWA 1989: 81(8): 41–53.
Pinheiro J.C., and Bates D.M. Mixed-effects Models in S and S-PLUS. Springer, New York, 2000.
Pleil J.D., and Lindstrom A.B. Exhaled human breath measurement method for assessing exposure to halogenated volatile organic compounds. Clin Chem 1997: 43(5): 723–730.
Raymer J.H., Pellizzari E.D., Thomas K.W., and Cooper S.D. Elimination of volatile organic compounds in breath after exposure to occupational and environmental microenvironments. J Expos Anal Environ Epidemiol 1991: 1(4): 439–451.
Raymer J.H., Thomas K.W., and Cooper S.D. A device for sampling of human alveolar breath for the measurement of expired volatile organic compounds. J Anal Toxicol 1990: 14(6): 337–344.
Rook J.J. Formation of haloforms during chlorination of natural waters. Water Treat Exam 1974: 23: 234–243.
Sheiner L.B., and Beal S.L. Evaluation of methods for estimating population pharmacokinetics parameters. I. Michaelis–Menten model: routine clinical pharmacokinetic data. J Pharmacokinet Biopharm 1980a: 8(6): 553–571.
Sheiner L.B., and Beal S.L. Evaluation of methods for estimating population pharmacokinetics parameters. II. Biexponential model: experimental pharmacokinetic data. J Pharmacokinet Biopharm 1980b: 9(5): 635–651.
US EPA. Exposure Factors Handbook, Vol. I: Review Draft. EPA/600/R-95/002Ba. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, 1996.
Vinegar A., Williams R.J., Fisher J.W., and McDougal J.N. Dose-dependent metabolism of 2,2-dichloro-1,1,1-triuoroethane: a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model in the male Fischer 344 rat. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 1994: 29(1): 103–113.
Wallace L.A. Human exposure and body burden for chloroform and other trihalomethanes. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol 1997: 27(2): 113–194.
Wallace L.A., Nelson W.C., Pellizzari E.D., and Raymer J.H. Uptake and decay of volatile organic compounds at environmental concentrations: application of a four-compartment model to a chamber study of five human subjects. J Expos Anal Environ Epidemiol 1997: 7: 141–163.
Wallace L.A., Pellizzari E.D., and Gordon S.M. A linear model relating breath concentrations to environmental exposures: application to a chamber study of four volunteers exposured to volatile organic chemicals. J Expos Anal Environ Epidemiol 1993: 3: 75–102.
Weisel C.P., and Jo W.K. Ingestion, inhalation, and dermal exposures to chloroform and trichloroethene from tap water. Environ Health Perspect 1996: 104(1): 48–51.
Weisel C.P., Jo W.K., and Lioy P.J. Utilization of breath analysis for exposure and dose estimates of chloroform. J Expos Anal Environ Epidemiol Suppl 1992: 1: 55–69.
Weisel C.P., Xu X., and Trabaris M. Inhalation and dermal exposure to the DBPs: haloacetic acids, halopropanones, haloacetonitriles and chloral hydrate. In: Joint International Society of Exposure Analysis/International Society for Environmental Epidemiology Annual Meeting, August 2002 Vancouver, Canada, 2002: P. 145.
Xu X. Dermal and Inhalation Exposure to Disinfection By-products in “Drinking Water”, PhD thesis, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 2002.
Xu X., Mariano T., Laskin J.D., and Weisel C.P. Percutaneous absorption of tri-halomethanes, haloacetic acids and haloketones. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2002: 184: 19–26.
Xu X., and Weisel C.P. Inhalation exposure to haloacetic acids and haloketones during showering. Environ Sci Technol 2003: 37(3): 569–576.
Yu R., and Weisel C.P. Measurement of benzene in human breath associated with an environmental exposure. J Expos Anal Environ Epidemiol 1996: 6(1): 261–277.
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Research Foundation (#GR825953-01-0). This presentation has not been subjected to the Agency's review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency. Clifford P. Weisel is supported in part by the NIEHS Center for Excellence Grant (ES05022-06).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Xu, X., Weisel, C. Human respiratory uptake of chloroform and haloketones during showering. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 15, 6–16 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500374
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500374
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Evaluation and strategy for improving the quality of desalinated water
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023)
-
Association between housing environment and depressive symptoms among older people: a multidimensional assessment
BMC Geriatrics (2021)
-
Occurrences and changes of disinfection by-products in small water supply systems
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (2018)
-
Enzyme Mediated Chloroform Biotransformation and Quantitative Cancer Risk Analysis of Trihalomethanes Exposure in South East Asia
Exposure and Health (2017)
-
Protective effects of garlic oil against 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol-induced hepatotoxicity: role of CYP2E1 and MAPKs
Molecular & Cellular Toxicology (2016)