Personal exposures,indoor-outdoor relationships,and breath levels of toxic air pollutants measured for 355 persons in New Jersey

EPA's TEAM Study has measured exposures to 20 volatile organic compounds in personal air, outdoor air, drinking water and the breath of 355 persons in NJ, in the fall of 1981. The NJ residents were selected by a probability sampling scheme to represent 128,000 inhabitants of Elizabeth and Bayonne. Participants carried a personal monitor to collect two 12-h air samples and gave a breath sample at the end of the day. Two consecutive 12-h outdoor air samples were also collected on identical Tenax cartridges in the back yards of 90 of the participants. About 3000 samples were collected, of which 1000 were quality control samples. Eleven compounds were often present in air. Personal exposures were consistently higher than outdoor concentrations for these chemicals, and were sometimes ten times the outdoor concentrations. Indoor sources appeared responsible for much of the difference. Breath concentrations also usually exceed outdoor concentrations, and correlated more strongly with personal exposures than with outdoor concentrations. Some activities (smoking, driving, visiting dry cleaners or service stations) and occupations (chemical, paint and plastics plants) were associated with significantly elevated exposures and breath levels for certain toxic chemicals.