Semi-volatile organic compounds in the air and dust of 30 French schools: a pilot study

Gaëlle Raffy (1, 2, 3) , Fabien Mercier (1, 2, 3) , Olivier Blanchard (1, 2) , Mickaël Derbez (4) , Claire Dassonville (4) , Nathalie Bonvallot (1, 2) , Philippe Glorennec (1, 2) , Barbara Le Bot (2, 1, 3)

1 Irset - Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail
2 EHESP - École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique [EHESP]
3 LERES - Laboratoire d'étude et de recherche en environnement et santé
4 CSTB - Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment

The contamination of indoor environments with chemical compounds released by materials and furniture, such as semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) is less documented in schools than in dwellings - yet children spend 16% of their time in schools, where they can also be exposed. This study is one of the first to describe the contamination of the air and dust of 90 classrooms from 30 nursery and primary schools by 55 SVOCs, including pesticides, phosphoric esters, musks, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), phthalates and polybromodiphenylethers (PBDEs). Air samples were collected using an active sampling method, and dust samples were collected via two sampling methods (wiping and vacuum cleaning). In air, the highest concentrations (median \textbackslashtextgreater 100 ng/m(3) ) were measured for diisobutyl-phthalate (DiBP), dibutyl-phthalate (DBP), diethyl-phthalate (DEP), bis(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP) and galaxolide. In dust, the highest concentrations (median \textbackslashtextgreater 30 μg/g) were found for DEHP, diisononyl-phthalate (DiNP), DiBP and DBP. An attempt to compare two floor dust sampling methods using a single unit (ng/m²) was carried out. SVOC concentrations were higher in wiped dust, but frequencies of quantification were greater in vacuumed dust.

Keywords: Dust; Children's exposure; Indoor air; SVOCs; Sampling; School

Domains: Santé publique et épidémiologie; Health; Ecotoxicology

Gaëlle Raffy, Fabien Mercier, Olivier Blanchard, Mickaël Derbez, Claire Dassonville, et al.. Semi-volatile organic compounds in the air and dust of 30 French schools: a pilot study. Indoor Air, 2017, 27 (1), pp.114-127. ⟨10.1111/ina.12288⟩. ⟨hal-01286254⟩