Revisiting Dust and Soil Ingestion Rates Based on Hand-to-Mouth Transfer

Soil ingestion rates calculated using a tracer-based mass balance approach may carry considerable study errors, insensitivities, and “artefacts” of analysis that result in significant uncertainty. These same soil ingestion rates are often used as surrogates for dust ingestion rates. Therefore, a more direct and mechanistic method was developed to estimate soil and dust ingestion rates. The soil and dust ingestion rates were calculated using measures of: particle loading to indoor surfaces; fraction transferred to the hands; hand surface area; fraction of hand surface area that may be mouthed or contact food; frequency of hand-to-mouth events, amount dissolved by saliva; and exposure time. Adapted specifically for the Canadian context, estimated mean indoor dust ingestion rates range from 2.2 mg/d for teenagers to 41 mg/d for toddlers; mean soil ingestion rates range from 1.2 mg/d for seniors to 23 mg/d for children. Combined soil and dust ingestion rates ranged from 3.8 mg/d for seniors to 61 mg/d for toddlers. These ingestion rates are lower than values adopted by most agencies. These ingestion rates are mechanistic, can be adjusted on a site-specific basis, can be modified into an hourly rate and are presented as a more realistic alternative to traditional mass balance approaches.

[Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Human and Ecological Risk Assessment to view the free supplementary files.]     

Prevalence of Soil Mouthing/Ingestion among Healthy Children Aged 1 to 6

Ingestion of non-food items/mouthing behavior results in exposure of children to contaminants in soil/dust. We characterize the prevalence of such behaviors in healthy children. The relative frequency of such behaviors was assessed by parent interviews for 533 children age 1 to 6. Thirty-eight percent of children put soil in their mouths at least monthly, 24% at least weekly, and 11% daily. High-risk behavior decreased quickly for children aged 2 or more, but was still reported at least monthly by 3 to 9% of parents of children up through age 6. Highest outdoor object mouthing rates occur among 1-year-old children, who are reported to play daily in sand/dirt and have generally high levels of mouthing. Such children may have higher soil/dust ingestion and higher exposure to contaminants when soil/dust contains lead or other agents. These high-risk groups may help focus educational interventions and/or risk assessments.     

Biasing Factors for Simple Soil Ingestion Estimates in Mass Balance Studies of Soil Ingestion

Soil ingestion estimates from mass balance soil ingestion studies can be used in Monte Carlo Risk assessment. We develop and describe a simulation model based on four mass balance soil ingestion studies that enables food ingestion, soil ingestion, and transit time to be mimicked. We use the simulation to evaluate potential biases that exist in current estimates of the distribution of daily soil ingestion in children (constructed from subject specific average daily estimates). The simulation identifies the importance of the study duration on the bias in the upper percentile soil ingestion estimates, indicating that the 95% soil ingestion estimate may be positively biased by over 100%. Misspecification of play areas for soil sampling is shown to have no biasing effect, and absorption of trace elements in food of up to 30% is shown to bias the soil ingestion distribution by less than 20 mg/d. The results, based on Al and Si trace element estimates, define the limits of previously published soil ingestion estimates, and provide insight for future study design and estimation methods.     

Bias and the detection limit model for soil ingestion

The observation that Zr provided an estimate of soil ingestion 80% lower than estimates provided by seven other elements for 1 week in a soil‐pica child in light of the apparent high detection capability for the element resulted in a reexamination of the validity of a current modeling approach advocated for use in estimating soil ingestion detection limits. This examination reveals that for high levels of soil ingestion, possible biases in soil ingestion methodology may be inadequately accounted for in the soil detection limit model. The extent of this limitation is explored and placed in the context of reported limitations in trace element measurement methodology.     

Soil ingestion estimates for use in site evaluations based on the best tracer method

This paper develops a novel methodology, the Best Tracer method (BTM), that substantially overcomes the principal limitations (intertracer inconsistencies, and poor precision of recovery) of estimating soil ingestion by specific soil‐based tracers in massbalance studies. The BTM incorporates a biological and statistical framework that improves precision of recovery of tracer estimates, markedly reducing input‐output misalignment error resulting from a lack of correspondence between food tracer input and fecal tracer output.

This method is then used to re‐estimate the soil ingestion distribution of previously published soil ingestion estimates from two children studies (Calabrese et al. 1989; Davis et al., 1990) and one adult study (Calabrese et al., 1990). Revised estimates of soil ingestion are provided for each study. In addition, the results from the two children's studies are combined to form a single estimate of the soil ingestion distribution. These collective findings result in more reliable quantitative estimates of soil ingestion than trace element specific estimates, as well as providing improved understanding of current published soil ingestion studies, and improved methods that will enhance the design and interpretation of future soil ingestion studies.

With respect to children, the data indicate that the Calabrese et al. (1989) study provides the most reliable estimates of soil ingestion based on the estimated precision of recovery. However, estimates for the combined data of the Calabrese et al. (1989) and Davis et al. (1990) studies include all available children's data from mass balance studies, and thus provide more robust estimates. The collective data suggest that the median child in these studies ingested 30–40 mg/day of soil, while the upper 95% estimate is approximately 200 mg/day. Current data are insufficient to distinguish the children's soil ingestion distribution from that of adults. The revised and improved estimates of soil ingestion for children and adults have important implications for contaminant exposure estimates used in site evaluation risk assessment procedures.     

Limits in soil ingestion data: The potential for imputing data when soil ingestion estimates are below the detection limit

The formation of a soil ingestion distribution based on pooling data from current soil ingestion studies is appealing. An important issue in forming such a distribution is what to do with negative soil ingestion estimates for particular subjects, because they comprise approximately 10 to 40% of the total soil ingestion estimates. A method of correcting for the negative estimates of soil ingestion is to make use of the “soil ingestion detection limit”;. An appropriate methodology for forming estimates of such detection limits is available in the literature. This paper discusses appropriate use of the existing soil ingestion detection limit methodology in forming a pooled database using current soil ingestion study data. The discussion focuses attention on the current limitations of children's soil ingestion data and potential pitfalls in applying the detection limit model when generating a soil ingestion distribution. In summary, currently available soil ingestion data are not sufficiently reliable to impute individual soil ingestion estimates below the detection limit. Research directed toward identifying and quantifying individual error in soil ingestion estimates is needed to overcome this limitation.     

Screening site contamination usina pathway exposure factors

Radian Corporation conducted an investigation of 29 waste sites at an air force base in New Mexico in partial fulfillment of the RCRA operating permit requirements for the facility. The contract required that the investigation be conducted under the Installation Restoration Program (IRP/CERCLA). In an effort to satisfy both RCRA and CERCLA requirements, a hybrid approach was taken for the risk assessment. Site contaminants ranged from petroleum and unconventional fuels to solvents, pesticides, and PCBs. A screening method was developed to classify the level of contamination at each of the 29 sites based on soil and groundwater sampling results. Under this method, sites were classified as “dirty,”; “clean,”; or “borderline.”; Dirty sites did not require a full‐scale risk assessment because some form of remedial action would be necessary. However, clean sites and borderline sites required a full‐scale risk assessment. For clean sites, the risk assessment served as justification for no further action; for borderline sites, the risk assessment determined whether or not remedial action would be required. The screening method used previously developed multipathway and multimedia models for estimating potential human exposure to environmental contaminants in the air, water, and soil through inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact routes. Pathway exposure factors (PEFs), which combined information on human physiology, behavior patterns, and models of environmental transport, were used to determine the relationship between the concentration of environmental contaminants and human exposure. The PEF converts concentrations in environmental media to lifetime‐equivalent chronic daily intakes (CDI). Three exposure pathways contributing the greatest proportion of the risk were considered for screening these sites: (1) incidental ingestion of soil; (2) dermal contact with soil; and (3) ingestion of water. This project demonstrated that a screening approach could be used effectively to limit the number of full‐scale risk assessments required for a multisite investigation.     

Soil Ingestion Distributions for Monte Carlo Risk Assessment in Children

Monte Carlo environmental risk assessment requires estimates of the exposure distributions. An exposure of principal concern is often soil ingestion among children. We estimate the long-term (annual) average soil ingestion exposure distribution using daily soil ingestion estimates from children who participated in a mass-balance study at Anaconda, MT. The estimated distribution is accompanied by uncertainty estimates. The estimates take advantage of developing knowledge about bias in soil ingestion estimates and are robust. The estimates account for small particle size soil, use the median trace element estimate for subject days, account for the small sample variance of the median estimates, and use best linear unbiased predictors to estimate the cumulative long term soil ingestion distribution. Bootstrapping is used to estimate the uncertainty of the distribution estimates. The median soil ingestion is estimated as 24?mg/d (sd = 4?mg/d), with the 95 percentile soil ingestion estimated as 91?mg/d (sd = 16.6?mg/d). Strategies are discussed for use of these estimates in Monte Carlo risk assessment.     

What proportion of household dust is derived from outdoor soil?

This report estimated the amount of outdoor soil in indoor dust in the Calabrese et al. (1989) children soil ingestion study via the use of statistical modelling. The estimate used data on outdoor soil and indoor dust in the homes of 60 children with eight tracer elements (Al, Ba, Mn, Si, Ti, V, Y, and Zr). The model estimated that 31.3% of indoor dust had an origin of outdoor soil. Based on a previous report (Stanek and Calabrese, 1992) on differential soil from dust ingestion in the Calabrese et al. (1989) study and the data of the present analysis, the median outdoor soil ingestion of the Calabrese et al. (1989) study should be revised downward by 35%. For the three most reliable tracers, the median soil ingestion estimates would be reduced from 29 to 19 mg/d for Al, 55 to 36 mg/d for Ti, and 16 to 10 mg/d for, Zr.     

A Guide to Interpreting Soil Ingestion Studies. 2. Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence of Soil Ingestion

Abstract

Four major studies have attempted to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the extent of soil ingestion in children using the soil tracer methodology. The validity of the estimates of soil ingestion of each study was reevaluated in light of the inherent strengths and limitations of study design and/or execution as well as via a novel methodology to estimate the soil recovery variance of each tracer which then lead to the estimation of soil ingestion detection limits of each tracer for studies performing mass-balance analyses. Based on these analyses it is concluded that the Binder et al. (1986) and Van Wijnen et al. (1990) studies provide no convincing evidence to support qualitative and quantitative estimates of soil ingestion due to inherent limitations of their respective study designs. The Davis et al. (1990) and Calabrese et al. (1989) studies displayed convincing qualitative evidence of soil ingestion. However, the results indicate that the median soil ingestion estimates of Davis et al. were less reliable than those of Calabrese et al. The range of detection limits vary according to the tracer and the assumption of acceptable precision in recovery estimation. The minimum detection level of soil ingestion in children in the Calabrese et al. study with a variance in recovery of 100% ± 20% was 16 mg day^?1 based on Zr.

These findings are of particular regulatory significance since they provide: (1) a method of assessing the level of detection inherent in soil ingestion studies, (2) a reevaluation of the major soil ingestion studies in light of new methodology, and (3) guidance for future studies so that detection capacity can now be included in the presentation of study findings.     

Assessment of Potential Human Health Risks from Arsenic in CCA-Treated Wood

Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) is a chemical preservative used to treat wood for a variety of outdoor uses, including decks, fencing, and play structures. This article describes a methodology to quantify exposures to arsenic from CCA-treated wood. Exposure was evaluated for ingestion and dermal contact with arsenic-containing residue on treated wood surfaces (dislodgeable arsenic), and ingestion, dermal contact, and inhalation of soil containing arsenic originating from treated wood structures. Standard approaches were used to quantify exposures to arsenic in soil. In the absence of standard approaches for exposures to dislodgeable residue, an empirical approach was developed, extrapolating from studies of soil loadings on hands and soil ingestion rates to estimate the amount of dislodgeable residue on hands that is subsequently ingested. Results from animal studies were used to develop relative bioavailability estimates for dislodgeable and soil arsenic. A focused sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the assumptions used regarding hand loading and subsequent incidental ingestion of dislodgeable arsenic had the most significant impact on the results. This assessment indicates low uptake of arsenic into the body, resulting in incremental lifetime cancer risks within USEPA's target risk levels. We compare this approach to other methodologies used to assess exposures to treated wood.     

Soil ingestion in children: Outdoor soil or indoor dust?

Soil ingestion estimates may play a prominent role in exposure estimation for risk assessments involving tightly bound soil contaminants such as dioxin, PCBs, and lead in soil. Since contamination is often localized to specific areas, the relative contribution of ingested soil due to outdoor soil and indoor dust may have a large impact on the risk assessment. This article examines data on 64 preschool children over 2 weeks to estimate the relative contribution of ingested soil from outdoor soil and indoor dust. Four principal methodological approaches are developed and presented to form the estimates, and their relative strengths and weaknesses are discussed.

The four approaches differ in their assumptions and their ability to detail differences in ingestion source. Two approaches (i.e., duration correlation method — approach 1 and group tracer ratio method — approach 2) were used that can only estimate the average ingestion source, where averages are calculated over subjects and weeks. Both of these approaches have sufficient limitations to preclude confidence in the resulting estimates.

The final two approaches (approach 3 — individual tracer ratio method and approach 4 — multiple statistical model method) were able to characterize ingestion source for individual subject‐weeks and offered more plausible estimates of soil ingestion. Greater emphasis is placed on approach 3 since it was biologically plausible and conceptually straightforward. Approach 3 indicated that 49.2% ± 29.2% of the residual fecal tracers were estimated to be of soil origin. These findings, which represent the first quantitative differentiation of soil vs. dust ingestion, have considerable application for a variety of environmental settings requiring exposure assessment.     

Lead (Pb) is Now a Non-Threshold Substance: How Does this Affect Soil Quality Guidelines?

Risk-based concentrations (RBCs) for lead (Pb) in soil were estimated using equations for development of Canadian soil quality guidelines. Based on the latest toxicological assessments by various health agencies, risk specific doses for Pb were defined for children (for impacts on intelligence quotient [IQ]) and adults (for impacts on systolic blood pressure [SBP] as well as protection of fetal effects in the case of pregnant women). The analysis suggests that a RBC in soil of 180 μg/g (dry weight) for residential and other areas where children routinely play is protective of a 1 IQ point decrement on a population basis and may actually be associated with decrements of less than 0.2 to 0.35 IQ points when the weight of evidence is considered. For soils that children do not contact on a frequent basis, RBCs as great as 8800 μg/g are considered to be protective of a 1 mmHg SBP increase in adults (as well as IQ effects to the fetus). It is stressed that non-soil sources of Pb may be even more important than soil. The approach may also be useful in jurisdictions outside of Canada as the importance of considering IQ decrements on a population basis rather than an individual basis and uncertainties in soil ingestion rates are considered.     

Soil Ingestion Estimates for Children in Anaconda Using Trace Element Concentrations in Different Particle Size Fractions

This investigation assessed the effect of soil particle size on soil ingestion estimates of children residing at a superfund site. Earlier research indicated that wide intertracer variability in soil ingestion estimates are based on soil concentrations with a soil particle size of 0 to 2?µm was markedly reduced when the estimates were based on soil tracer concentrations for a soil particle size of 0-250?µm. The reduced intertracer variation was principally attributed to changes in soil concentrations of only three of the soil tracers (i.e., Ce, La, Nd) which became concentrated in the finer particle size by approximately 2.5 to 4.0-fold. It was hypothesized that the intertracer agreement in soil ingestion estimates may continue to improve if the estimates are based on concentrations of tracers at finer particle sizes assuming that children ingest finer particles and that the above three tracers would continue to be further concentrated in the finer sized soil particles. The principal findings indicate: 1. The soil concentrations of Al, Si, and Ti do not increase at the two finer particle size ranges measured. 2. The soil concentrations of Ce, La, and Nd increased by a factor 2.5 to 4.0 in the 100 to 250?µm particle size range when compared with the 0 to 2?µm particle size range. No further substantial increase in concentration was observed in the 53 to 100 |jm particle size range. 3. The soil ingestion estimates are consistently and markedly changed only between the estimates based in 0 to 2?µm and 100 to 250?µm for Ce, La, and Nd. These changes reduced the intertracer variability in estimating soil ingestion, suggesting that the children eat finer soil particle sizes. 4. Because the particle sizes for all tracers (except Zr) were only modestly affected at the 53 to 100?µm range, it was not possible to confidently resolve the particle size of soil ingested by the children. 5. Residual intertracer variability in soil ingestion estimates based on Ce, La, Nd are likely to be significantly affected by non-food, non-soil sources of these tracers (i.e., source error). 6. Soil ingestion estimates of this study will be more reliable when derived from the finer-sized particles.     

Risk analysis reveals global hotspots for marine debris ingestion by sea turtles

Plastic marine debris pollution is rapidly becoming one of the critical environmental concerns facing wildlife in the 21st century. Here we present a risk analysis for plastic ingestion by sea turtles on a global scale. We combined global marine plastic distributions based on ocean drifter data with sea turtle habitat maps to predict exposure levels to plastic pollution. Empirical data from necropsies of deceased animals were then utilised to assess the consequence of exposure to plastics. We modelled the risk (probability of debris ingestion) by incorporating exposure to debris and consequence of exposure, and included life history stage, species of sea turtle and date of stranding observation as possible additional explanatory factors. Life history stage is the best predictor of debris ingestion, but the best‐fit model also incorporates encounter rates within a limited distance from stranding location, marine debris predictions specific to the date of the stranding study and turtle species. There is no difference in ingestion rates between stranded turtles vs. those caught as bycatch from fishing activity, suggesting that stranded animals are not a biased representation of debris ingestion rates in the background population. Oceanic life‐stage sea turtles are at the highest risk of debris ingestion, and olive ridley turtles are the most at‐risk species. The regions of highest risk to global sea turtle populations are off of the east coasts of the USA, Australia and South Africa; the east Indian Ocean, and Southeast Asia. Model results can be used to predict the number of sea turtles globally at risk of debris ingestion. Based on currently available data, initial calculations indicate that up to 52% of sea turtles may have ingested debris.     

A Caution for Monte Carlo Risk Assessment of Long Term Exposures based on Short-Term Exposure Study Data

Monte Carlo risk assessments commonly take as input empirical or parametric exposure distributions from specially designed exposure studies. The exposure studies typically have limited duration, since their design is based on statistical and practical factors (such as cost and respondent burden). For these reasons, the exposure period studied rarely corresponds to the biologic exposure period, which we define as the time at risk that is relevant for quantifying exposure that may result in health effects. Both the exposure period studied and the biologic exposure period will often differ from the exposure interval used in a Monte Carlo analysis. Such time period differences, which are often not accounted for, can have dramatic effects on the ultimate risk assessment. When exposure distributions are right skewed and/or follow a lognormal distribution, exposure will usually be overestimated for percentiles above the median by direct use of exposure study empirical data, since biologic exposure periods are generally longer than the exposure periods in exposure assessment studies. We illustrate the effect that biologic exposure time period and response error can have on exposure distributions, using soil ingestion as an example. Beginning with variance components from lognormally distributed soil ingestion estimates, we illustrate the effect of different modeling assumptions, and the sensitivity of the resulting analyses to these assumptions. We develop a strategy for determining appropriate exposure input distributions for soil ingestion, and illustrate this using data on soil ingestion in children.     

Estimation of dust ingestion rates in units of surface area per day using a mechanistic hand-to-mouth model

In order to provide dust ingestion rates that can aid the interpretation of indoor dust measurements as surface loadings (i.e., units of µg/m²), dust ingestion rates have been developed for various age groups on a surface area basis. The approach incorporates a hand-to-mouth mechanistic model that was previously developed to estimate dust ingestion rates in units of mg/day. The analysis resulted in estimated mean dust intakes that range from 0.0032 m²/d (for teenagers) to 0.061 m²/d (for toddlers) at residential settings assumed to be comprised of 50% hard surfaces and 50% soft surfaces. Intake rates assuming 100% hard surfaces and 100% soft surfaces are also presented. The values provided are intended to assist the interpretation of indoor dust investigations where substance content in dust is presented as surface loadings rather than bulk dust concentrations.     

Methodological Considerations in Soil Ingestion Estimation

Abstract

Methodological considerations play an important role in forming population estimates of soil ingestion in children. Two important areas of controversy are the hypothesized log-normal distribution of ingested soil and the identificatbn and appropriateness of methods for handling outliers. Each of these issues is discussed in the context of data collected on soil ingestion in Amherst, Massachusetts. Non-parametric methods are recommended as most suitable and appropriate for analysis of soil ingestion studies.     

Bioavailability of Metals in Soil and Health Risk Assessment for Populations Near an Indian Chromite Mine Area

Soils contaminated with toxic metals may be environmental hazards and sources of exposure to human population. Soils in mining areas are among the most heavily contaminated by metals from the mining activity. This study was focused on metals of interest in bioavailability studies using single and sequential extraction methods. Results of geochemical fractionation suggest that changes in soil characteristics may enhance the mobilization of Cu, Cr, Zn, and Al. The observed metals’ availability pattern was Cr > Cu > Zn > Al. However, the pattern of total contents of metals in soils was Al > Cr > Zn > Cu. Risks to human adults and children from selected metals through soil ingestion was assessed in terms of incremental lifetime average daily dose (LADD), hazard quotient (HQ), and hazard index (HI). The estimated LADDs and HI were within acceptable reference doses and less than 1, respectively, indicating low risk to human populations from the studied metals through soil ingestion in the studied mine area. The generated data may be useful in remediation of contaminated soils with metals.     

Improved methods for recovering eggs of Toxocara canis from soil

The ingestion of soil in parks and public places containing eggs of Toxocara may constitute a significant health risk, particularly to children. To determine the most efficient method for extracting eggs from experimentally contaminated soil, two consecutive studies were undertaken. Four techniques, including washing, sieving, vacuum, and the one recommended by the World Health Organization, were evaluated. Recovery rates of over 85% were recorded with both washing and sieving methods. Using the washing technique, all combinations of the four pre-treatment solutions, distilled water, acetoacetic solution pH 5, 0.1 n sodium hydroxide and 1% Tween 20, and seven flotation fluids with different specific gravities (S.G.) ranging from 1.20 to 1.35 were assayed. The association of distilled water and saccharose solution with an S.G. of 1.27 showed the best results, with a recovery rate of 99.91%.