Environmental Health &

Engineering

ICPHSO - 2010:Trends in Environmental Risk

Joseph G. Allen, DSc, MPH

www.eheinc.com • 800.825.5343© 2010 Environmental Health & Engineering, Inc.

© EH&E 2010

Trends in Environmental Risk(associated with consumer products)

1) Data Aggregation increasing availability of exposure, risk

and health data

2) Modern Exposures and Latent Risk flame retardants, phthalates, PCBs

3) The Indoor Environment “Chinese” drywall

© EH&E 2010

2 – Data Aggregation

1 - Data Aggregation

1) CDC/ATSDR• NHANES: geographic; body burdens and effects• Health Hazard Evaluations

2) EPA• AQS (air), STORET (water), NEI and TRI (emissions)

3) National Children’s Study• 100,000 child cohort!• Longitudinal (prenatal to age 21)

4) CPSIA Public Database• “publicly available, searchable, and accessible

through the Commission's Web site”

Coming Soon!

© EH&E 2010

2 – Data Aggregation

Source: Norén and Meironyté 1998

1 - Data AggregationFlame Retardants

Untreated PBDEsPBDE Papers in PubMed

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

# of

Pub

lishe

d P

aper

s

0

100

200

300

400

500"The scientific feeding frenzy begins" - T. Webster

© EH&E 2010

2 – Data Aggregation

2 – Modern Chemicals and Latent Risk

1) Establishment of EPA2) Clean Air Act; Safe

Drinking Water Act3) Reduction in exposure

and risk to address the clear ‘bad actors’

That was then…

© EH&E 2010

2 – Modern Chemicals and Latent Risk(Part 2a – Latent Health Risk)

© EH&E 2010

2 – Modern Chemicals and Latent Risk(Part 2b – Latent Exposure Risk)

Source: NIOSH. Current Intelligence Bulletin: Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBS). PCB Manufacture and Sales Monsanto Industrial Chemical Company

Year

19571958

19591960

19611962

19631964

19651966

19671968

19691970

19711972

PC

Bs

in C

au

lkin

g (

mill

ion

s o

f p

ou

nd

s)

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

© EH&E 2010

Source: EH&E survey of indoor air quality programs in U.S. schools; Moglia et al. 2006, Environmental Health Perspectives, 114(1):141-146.

Decade of Construction

Prior t

o 199

0

1900

-190

9

1910

-191

9

1920

-192

9

1930

-193

9

1940

-194

9

1950

-195

9

1960

-196

9

1970

-197

9

1980

-198

9

1990

-199

9

2000

-200

2

Percentage of U.S. Schools

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

CumulativeGrowth

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%Percentage of schoolsCumulative growth

60% of publicschool buildingsat risk

• Buildings– 100,000 federally-owned1

– 12,000 public schools2

– 450,000 commercial buildings3

– 12 billion square feet overall

• Costs4

– $90 million for a typical large academic or commercial real estate portfolio

– $150-200 billion overall

Sources: 1 FY2008 Federal Real Property Report, Federal Real Property Council 2 EH&E survey of schools for EPA (Moglia et al. 2006) 3 U.S. census data on construction of private buildings 4 Based on remediation costs of $15 per square foot

2 – Modern Chemicals and Latent Risk(Part 2b – Latent Exposure Risk)

© EH&E 2010

3 – The Indoor Environment

Source: Klepeis et al. 2001

© EH&E 2010

3 – The Indoor Environment“Chinese Drywall”

© EH&E 2010

• Source• Identified markers

• Exposure• Elevated hydrogen sulfide

• Effect• Elevated rates of corrosion

The indoor environment is complex and dynamic• Air exchange rate• Dew point/temperature• Co-pollutants• Interaction• Source concentrations v.

exposure concentrations

3 – The Indoor Environment“Chinese Drywall”

Source: Final Report on an IEQ Assessment of Residences Containing Chinese Drywall, EH&E 2010

© EH&E 2010

Trends in Environmental Risk(associated with consumer products)

Data Aggregation

Latent Risk (endocrine disruption)

Indoor Environment

KIDS

Environmental Health &

Engineering

ICPHSO - 2010:Trends in Environmental Risk

Joseph G. Allen, DSc, MPH

www.eheinc.com • 800.825.5343© 2010 Environmental Health & Engineering, Inc.