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Relationships between levels of volatile organic compounds in air and blood from the general population

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 18, pages 421–429 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

The relationships between levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in blood and air have not been well characterized in the general population where exposure concentrations are generally at parts per billion levels. This study investigates relationships between the levels of nine VOCs, namely, benzene, chloroform, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, ethylbenzene, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), tetrachloroethene, toluene, and m-/p- and o-xylene, in blood and air from a stratified random sample of the general US population. We used data collected from 354 participants, including 89 smokers and 265 nonsmokers, aged 20–59 years, who provided samples of blood and air in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2000. Demographic and physiological characteristics were obtained from self-reported information; smoking status was determined from levels of serum cotinine. Multiple linear regression models were used to investigate the relationships between VOC levels in air and blood, while adjusting for effects of smoking and demographic factors. Although levels of VOCs in blood were positively correlated with the corresponding air levels, the strength of association (R2) varied from 0.02 (ethylbenzene) to 0.68 (1,4-DCB). Also the blood–air relationships of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and the xylenes (BTEX) were influenced by smoking, exposure–smoking interactions, and by gender, age, and BMI, whereas those of the other VOCs were not. Interestingly, the particular exposure–smoking interaction for benzene was different from those for toluene, ethylbenzene, and the xylenes. Whereas smokers retained more benzene in their blood at increasing exposure levels, they retained less toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes at increasing exposure levels. Investigators should consider interaction effects of exposure levels and smoking when exploring the blood–air relationships of the BTEX compounds in the general population.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partly supported by the G67702 Seed Research Program from the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. We appreciate the suggestions of Dr. Gordon G. Brown and the staff at the National Center for Health Statistics who conducted the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and made the data available. We declare that we have no competing financial interests. The United States Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development collaborated in the research described here. It has been subjected to Agency review and approved for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

    Y S Lin

  2. Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division, US Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

    P P Egeghy

  3. Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA

    S M Rappaport

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Correspondence to S M Rappaport.

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Lin, Y., Egeghy, P. & Rappaport, S. Relationships between levels of volatile organic compounds in air and blood from the general population. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 18, 421–429 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jes.7500635

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