Indoor and outdoor BTX levels in German cities

Schneider, P.; Gebefügi, István; Richter, Kai; Wölke, Gabriele; Schnelle, J.; Wichmann, Heinz Erich; Heinrich, Joachim

doi:10.1016/s0048-9697(00)00766-x

Cited by 133 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…surrounding) mg/day for non-smokers, 116-122 mg/day for passive smokers and 516-819 mg/day for smokers (DuarteDavidson et al, 2001). With respect to our results for daily benzene uptake for non-smokers, we also back calculated average daily benzene air concentrations (median: 2.4-3.2 mg/m 3 air; 95th percentile: 5.4-8.5 mg/m 3 ) that are in very good accordance with values previously published for benzene in indoor and outdoor air (Duarte-Davidson et al, 2001;Schneider et al, 2001). It is also noteworthy that a recent study reported UEs of S-PMA for non-smoking traffic policemen (median: 0.42 mg/g creatinine) exposed to low concentrations of airborne benzene (median: 6.1 mg/m 3 ) that are comparable to the 95th percentile measured within our study for nonsmokers of the general population (see Table 1) (Manini et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…In a survey in German households, indoor air levels for benzene have been reported to range from 2.2 to 5.9 mg/m 3 . The mean outdoor levels for benzene in this survey ranged from 1.3 to 9.6 mg/m 3 with the highest concentrations in urban surroundings (Schneider et al, 2001). Similar outdoor concentrations were reported in a survey conducted in the United Kingdom with mean concentrations ranging from 1.3 to 8.0 mg/m 3 (summarized by DuarteDavidson et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 86%

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A biomarker approach to estimate the daily intake of benzene in non-smoking and smoking individuals in Germany

Schettgen

Ochsmann

Alt

et al. 2009

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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Owing to its carcinogenic properties, benzene is one of the most important environmental air pollutants. We have applied a simple pharmacokinetic model to estimate the individual daily exposure of persons of the general population to benzene using their urinary excretion of S-phenylmercapturic acid as biomarker of exposure. On the basis of a non-representative convenience sample of the general population, spontaneous urine samples of 43 non-smoking persons, 13 persons with exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) (as determined by urinary cotinine) and 72 smokers were analyzed for S-phenylmercapturic acid, and benzene exposure was back calculated on the basis of the results. The pharmacokinetic model was based either on estimated daily urinary volume or creatinine excretion. Median daily exposure of non-smokers was calculated to be 47 mg/day (volume-based model) and 63 mg benzene/day (creatinine-based model). ETS-exposed persons had a slightly higher median daily exposure of 65 mg/day (volume-based model) and 72 mg benzene/day (creatinine-based model). The daily exposure of smokers was significantly higher with median values of 491 mg benzene/day (volumebased model) and 693 mg benzene/day (creatinine-based model). Our biomarker-based model gave plausible results for daily benzene exposure that were in good agreement with exposure estimations published earlier. As it is purely based on the determination of individual internal dose, our model provides a powerful tool for the risk assessment of environmental benzene.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 86%

A biomarker approach to estimate the daily intake of benzene in non-smoking and smoking individuals in Germany

Schettgen

Ochsmann

Alt

et al. 2009

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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“…The most important predictors of indoor NO 2 concentrations were gas cooking followed by other characteristics, such as ventilation, outdoor NO 2 level (motor vehicle traffic, especially in Hamburg), and environmental tobacco smoke. Conversely, indoor and outdoor median volatile organic compound (VOCs) concentrations in Erfurt were slightly, but significantly higher than those in Hamburg [22]. In general, the indoor VOCs air concentrations were significantly higher than the outdoor concentrations, except for benzene.…”

mentioning

confidence: 87%

Nonallergic respiratory morbidity improved along with a decline of traditional air pollution levels: a review

Heinrich

2003

Eur Respir J

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The tremendous decline of combustion-derived emissions of traditional air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide (SO2) and total suspended particles (TSP) in Eastern Germany shortly after German reunification in 1990 provided the unique opportunity to study trends of prevalence of respiratory illness along with the improvement of air quality.The present review focused on the results of two repeated surveys of nonallergic respiratory illness in children living in East Germany. The crude prevalence of respiratory illness such as lifetime bronchitis, otitis media, tonsillitis, frequent colds, and frequent cough decreased during the 1990s in East German children. For two surveys the effect estimates showed consistently statistically significant association of TSP with bronchitis. For SO2statistically significant associations with frequent colds were also consistently found, whereas at least one survey reported higher statistically significant effect estimates for tonsillitis, otitis media, frequent cough and reduced forced vital capacity.The present study concludes that the prevalence of nonallergic respiratory illness in East German children is associated with sulphur dioxide and total suspended particles and that the improvement of air quality has beneficial effects on respiratory health.

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“…The results obtained using the Radiello and Orsa 5 samplers were corrected for temperature to give the numerical value of the rate constant of sampling analytes from atmospheric air. 14,15 Passive permeation samplers fitted with a polydimethylsiloxane semipermeable membrane have hitherto been used only to assess the quality of indoor air. For these samplers, the parameter responsible for the rate of analyte sampling from the air, the numerical value of the calibration constants (k) for each compound determined, was measured experimentally on the basis of tests in exposure chambers in an atmosphere of standard gas mixtures exclusively at a temperature of 23°C.…”

Section: Passive Samplermentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Study of the Performance of Passive Samplers

Zabiegała

Sârbu

Urbanowicz

et al. 2011

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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Atmospheric concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (o-xylene and m,p-xylene) were assessed in the Tricity area (Gdań sk-Sopot-Gdynia, Poland) with the use of two types of passive samplers: permeation (homemade passive samplers) and diffusive (Radiello and Orsa 5). Samples were collected during 2008 at selected sites in the Tricity area at monitoring stations belonging to the agency of Regional Air Quality Monitoring Foundation. The field study was conducted to compare the performance of these two different types of passive samplers. A statistical approach was formulated, and the experimental data were evaluated using the paired t test, Wilcoxon signed rank-sum test, and Friedman analysis of variance. All the statistical results confirm the hypothesis that the differences between the performances of the three sampling devices are highly significant. Despite the fact that data obtained with the homemade passive sampler indicated that the results were higher compared with those for the Radiello and Orsa 5 diffusive samplers, the authors note that all differences between the homemade permeation sampler and the Radiello and Orsa 5 diffusive samplers are positive. INTRODUCTIONThe elevated levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air over many conurbations have spawned numerous attempts on various scales to clean up the air. Air quality management systems have been set up to supply information on concentration levels of selected atmospheric pollutants. Levels of analytes detected in samples collected at particular places and times are increasingly being used in models for predicting the spread of pollutants and in compiling distribution maps of pollutant levels. For the persons responsible for environment quality control, the biggest problem is choosing the proper field sampling technique, which should have the following features: detection of an appropriate concentration range of target analytes, known accuracy and precision of measurements, clearly defined influence of interferents on measurement results, simplicity and rapidity of measurement, and low running costs.Passive sampling is currently one of main areas of development in analysis, particularly in the monitoring of environmental pollutants. The main advantage of passive sample collection/enrichment technology is that in situ sample collection is very simple, which is particularly important in the case of long-term measurements and is also the reason that passive sampling appears to be an interesting alternative to the routinely used dynamic methods. Passive air sampling can provide atmospheric concentrations of pollutants over a period of months and simultaneously at a number of sites at low cost. With this method, pollutant concentrations are integrated over the whole exposure time, making them immune to accidental, extreme variations. Passive sampling can be used to investigate the atmospheric concentration of organic pollutants not only at the local scale 1,2 but also at the continental and global scales. 3 Inform...

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Indoor and outdoor BTX levels in German cities

Cited by 133 publications

References 14 publications

A biomarker approach to estimate the daily intake of benzene in non-smoking and smoking individuals in Germany

A biomarker approach to estimate the daily intake of benzene in non-smoking and smoking individuals in Germany

Nonallergic respiratory morbidity improved along with a decline of traditional air pollution levels: a review

A Comparative Study of the Performance of Passive Samplers

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