Levels of persistent organic pollutants in several child day care centers

The concentrations of a suite of persistent organic chemicals were measured in multiple media in 10 child day care centers located in central North Carolina. Five centers served mainly children from low-income families, as defined by the federal Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) assistance program, and five served mainly children from middle-income families. The targeted chemicals were chosen because of their probable carcinogenicity, acute or chronic toxicity, or hypothesized potential for endocrine system disruption. Targeted compounds included polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pentachloro- and nonyl-phenol, bisphenol-A, dibutyl and butylbenzyl phthalate, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, the organophosphate pesticides diazinon and chlorpyrifos, and the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4D). Sampled media were indoor and outdoor air, food and beverages, indoor dust, and outdoor play area soil. Concentrations of the targeted compounds were determined using a combination of extraction and analysis methods, depending on the media. Analysis was predominantly by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) or gas chromatography with electron capture detection (GC/ECD). Concentrations of the targeted pollutants were low and well below the levels generally considered to be of concern as possible health hazards. Potential exposures to the target compounds were estimated from the concentrations in the various media, the children's daily time–activity schedules at day care, and the best currently available estimates of the inhalation rates (8.3 m3/day) and soil ingestion rates (100 mg/day) of children ages 3–5. The potential exposures for the target compounds differed depending on the compound class and the sampled media. Potential exposures through dietary ingestion were greater than those through inhalation, which were greater than those through nondietary ingestion, for the total of all PAHs, the phenols, the organophosphate pesticides, and the organochlorine pesticides. Potential exposures through dietary ingestion were greater than those through nondietary ingestion, which were greater than those through inhalation, for those PAHs that are probable human carcinogens (B2 PAH), the phthalate esters, and 2,4D. For the PCBs, exposures through inhalation were greater than those through nondietary ingestion, and exposures through dietary ingestion were smallest. Differences in targeted compound levels between the centers that serve mainly low-income clients and those that serve mainly middle-income clients were small and depended on the compound class and the medium.