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Evaluation of NHANES biomonitoring data for volatile organic chemicals in blood: Application of chemical-specific screening criteria

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 22, pages 24–34 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Available biomonitoring data for volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) in blood from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (2003–2004) (CDC, 2009) were compared with recently derived screening biomonitoring equivalent (BE) values (Aylward et al., 2010). A BE is defined as the estimated concentration or range of concentrations of a chemical or its metabolites in a biological medium (blood, urine, or other medium) that is consistent with an existing health-based exposure guidance value. Blood concentrations of VOCs from the NHANES data set were compared with predicted screening BE values based upon a hazard quotient (HQ) for individual chemicals, and a hazard index (HI) approach for combined exposures. HI values for detected chemicals were generally at or below a value of 1, suggesting that the potential for deleterious effects is low. However, smoking was an important determinant of HI and HQ values. Detected levels of benzene in non-smokers were within the range of BE values corresponding to a 1 × 10−6–1 × 10−4 range for upper-bound cancer risk; in smokers, levels of benzene were at the upper end of or exceeded this range. For VOCs that were not detected in the NHANES sampling, analytical detection limits were generally sufficiently sensitive to detect concentrations consistent with existing non-cancer and cancer risk-based exposure guidance values. Interpretations of measured blood concentrations of VOCs must be made with caution due to the substantial within-individual, within-day fluctuations in levels expected due to the rapid elimination of VOCs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Summit Toxicology, Orange Village, Ohio, USA

    Christopher R Kirman

  2. Summit Toxicology, Falls Church, Virginia, USA

    Lesa L Aylward

  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Ben C Blount

  4. Summit Toxicology, Superior, Colorado, USA

    David W Pyatt

  5. Summit Toxicology, Lyons, Colorado, USA

    Sean M Hays

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  1. Christopher R Kirman
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  2. Lesa L Aylward
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  3. Ben C Blount
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  4. David W Pyatt
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  5. Sean M Hays
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Correspondence to Christopher R Kirman.

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Competing interests

Authors LLA, CRK, DWP, and SMH received funding from the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) to support preparation of the manuscript. The authors had complete freedom to design, implement, and report the analyses presented herein. Author BCB declares no conflict of interest.

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Kirman, C., Aylward, L., Blount, B. et al. Evaluation of NHANES biomonitoring data for volatile organic chemicals in blood: Application of chemical-specific screening criteria. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 22, 24–34 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2011.37

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