United States National Risk Management

Environmental Protection Research Laboratory

Agency Cincinnati, OH 45268

Research and Development EPA/600/SR-96/060 May 1996

Analysis of Soil and House

Dust for Polycyclic Aromatic

Hydrocarbons

Project Summary

Jane Chuang

It has been conjectured that jet turbine exhaust near airplane flight paths

may result in significant human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). EPA arranged access to a

household located approximately eight

miles from the end of a runway at the

Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Airport, and collected soil, wipe,

and dust samples in and around the

household. House dust samples were

collected inside the household and

entryway dust and soil samples were

collected outside. The objective of this

study was to determine if abnormally

high PAH concentrations existed in and

around the selected household. The

general concentration trend for the 19

PAH measured is house dust >

entryway dust > soil. The concentrations of each target PAH in the wipe

samples ranged from 0.007 to 0.54 μg/

m2. The sums of 19 PAH ranged from

0.13 to 0.88 ppm in soil samples, from

1.4 to 3.1 μg/m2 in wipe samples, and

from 0.97 to 4.0 ppm in dust samples.

Seven of the target PAH are ranked as

probable human carcinogens (B2) in

the U.S. EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System. The concentrations of

B2 PAH account for roughly half of the

concentrations of the sums of 19 PAH

in most soil and dust samples but not

in wipe samples.

This Project Summary was developed

by the National Risk Management Research Laboratory's Sustainable Technology Division, Cincinnati, OH, to announce key findings of the research

project that is fully documented in a

separate report of the same title (see

Project Report ordering information at

back).

Introduction

Little is known about possible exposure

of individuals living near airports to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Very

little data are available through traditional

literature searches on the aerosol/smoke

components of jet turbine exhaust. At major airports aircraft are routed through corridors or discrete pathways significantly

localizeing the distribution of any fallout

subject to meteorologic effects. The plume

could move directly to the ground as a

cohesive unit due to electrostatic charge

or saturation effects and pass through

open windows or be deposited on soil

with subsequent track-in to residences,

posing a risk of PAH exposure beyond

that which might arise from contact with

soil outdoors.

One household is located approximately

eight miles from the end of runway 27 Left

at the Greater Cincinnati and Northern

Kentucky International Airport was selected

for preliminary evaluation. The objective

of this study was to determine if abnormally high PAH concentrations existed in

and around the selected household. The

homeowner volunteered to allow sampling

in and around his home for measuring

PAH in soil, dust, and wipe samples. According to the homeowner, since the extended runway opened in the summer of

1995, 72 to 80 turbine-equipped aircraft

fly over the residence each day. Approximately 25 to 40 fly over between sunset

and sunrise depending on the season.

The airport began using this path as a

corridor in February 1991. There was a
2

slight hiatus from February through July

of 1995 as the runway was extended 2200

feet toward the west.

The EPA Risk Reduction Engineering

Laboratory (RREL)* arranged access to

the subject property and residence. In this

study, the RREL developed a sampling

design to collect soil, dust and wipe

samples at different locations. Battelle prepared and furnished sampling media and

procedures for sample collection. RREL

conducted the sampling and provided the

collected samples to Battelle for analysis

for PAH. The final report summarizes the

analytical procedures and the PAH results.

Procedure

The sampling design was established

by RREL. Prior to the sampling, Battelle

provided RREL the sampling media and

reviewed the sampling procedures. A training session was held at Battelle to demonstrate the use of the High Volume Small

Surface Sampler (HVS3) for designated

areas in the carpet.

The sampling was conducted on September 27, 1995 by RREL staff members.

A total of 10 soil samples, 5 wipe samples

and 4 dust samples was collected. At each

sampling site, soil was scraped from the

top 2 cm surface with an area approximately 20 cm by 20 cm. When there were

leaves or vegetation litter, these materials, generally about 0.5 cm deep, were

carefully scraped away before taking the

soil sample. Indoor and outdoor wipe

samples were taken by quartz fiber filters

thoroughly wet with hexane or by dry

quartz fiber filters. The unused hexane

and filters were sent back to Battelle for

use in preparation of a wipe blank.

Samples were taken from the top of the

west barn roof, a wood floor area (30.5

cm by 61 cm) in the dining room and

along the door jam and the door edge in

an upstairs bedroom.

The HVS3 was used to collected

samples of carpet-embedded house dust

from designated areas. The HVS3 consists of a high-powered vacuum cleaner

equipped with a sampling nozzle that can

be adjusted to a specific static pressure

within the nozzle, a cyclone which according to theoretical calculations will separate particles 5 μm mean diameter and

larger, and a bottle to catch the sample.

Neither the degree to which the HVS3

sampler removes the total dust load in the

carpet nor the distribution of PAHs as a

function of particle size were quantified in

this study. It is known that deep dust can

be exceedingly difficult to remove by vacuuming.

Prior to the sampling, the HVS3 was

disassembled and cleaned. The HVS3 was

operated according to the manufacture's

instruction and an ASTM standard guide.

A 76 cm by 100 cm rectangle was marked

out with masking tape at the designated

area and the width was subdivided into 10

7.6-cm wide segments. The HVS3 was

run slowly forward and backward across

the 100 cm length of the rectangle a total

of eight times along each 7.6-cm width.

After the eighth pass, the unit was gradually moved over to the next segment, and

the procedure was repeated until all 10

segments had been sampled, for a total

area of 0.76 m2.

A sample was collected from an outdoor entryway door mat. The sample was

collected by turning over the entryway mat

and placing it on a clean sheet of aluminum foil. The back of the mat was then

beaten for several minutes before it was

removed from the foil. The loose particles

on the foil were poured into a clean bottle.

The collected soil/wipe/dust samples were

stored at ≤4 °C in the dark and transported to Battelle for analysis.

Analytical Procedures

The dust samples were separated into

fine (< 150 μm) and course fractions and

only the fine fractions were subject to extraction. An aliquot of each dust and soil

sample was spiked with known amounts

of perdeuterated PAH, and each sample

was extracted twice with 10 mL of hexane

in a sonication bath for 30 min. The hexane extracts were combined, filtered, and

concentrated for subsequent gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS)

analysis. A method blank for dust and soil

samples was prepared by the same

method described above.

Known amounts of perdeuterate PAH

were spiked into each wipe sample and

extracted with dichloromethane (DCM) by

Soxhlet technique. The DCM extracts were

concentrated to 1 mL and were fractionated using prepacked 1 g silica gel columns. Two elution solvents, hexane and

hexane/DCM (1:1) were applied to the

columns. The target hexane/DCM fractions were concentrated to 1 mL for subsequent GC/MS analysis. A hexane-wet

filter was used as the method blank for

wipe samples and was prepared by the

same method.

The sample extracts and hexane/DCM

fractions were analyzed by GC/MS using

70-eV electron ionization (EI). A Finnigan

TSQ-45 GC/MS/MS instrument, operated

in the GC/MS mode, was used. Data acquisition and processing were performed

with an INCOS 2300 data system. Following injection, the GC column was held at

70 °C for 2 min and temperature-programmed to 290 °C at 8 °C/min. The MS

was operated in the selected ion monitoring mode. Masses monitored were the

molecular ions (M) and their associated

characteristic fragment ions including M+1

ions and doubly charged ions.

Results and Discussion

The sums of the concentrations of probable human carcinogens (B2) and total

target PAH in soil samples ranged from

0.036 to 0.42 and from 0.13 to 0.88 ppm,

respectively. The concentrations of the

well-known carcinogen, benzo[a]pyrene

(BaP) in the soil samples ranged from

0.001 to 0.53 ppm. With few exceptions,

the sums of the concentrations of B2 PAH

are approximately half of the total target

PAH concentrations in these soil samples.

The sums of the concentration of B2

and total target PAH in wipe samples

ranged from 0.25 to 1.1 and from 1.4 to

3.1 μg/m2, respectively. The concentrations of BaP in the wipe samples ranged

from 0.019 to 0.095 μg/m2. In general,

higher PAH concentrations were found in

indoor wipe samples as opposed to the

outdoor composite wipe samples. The

sums of the concentrations of B2 PAH

account for approximately 20 to 35 percent of the total target PAH concentrations.

The sums of the concentrations of B2

and total target PAH in the dust samples

ranged from 0.25 to 1.8 and from 0.97 to

4.0 ppm, respectively. The concentrations

of BaP in dust samples ranged from 0.035

to 0.19 ppm. In general, levels of PAH

found in house dust samples were higher

than those in entryway dust. The sums of

the concentrations of B2 PAH are approximately half of the total target PAH

concentrations in house dust samples but

not in the entryway dust sample.

Conclusions and

Recommendations

Additional samples should be collected

to investigate the effect of aircraft exhaust

emissions on exposure to PAH through

deposition and through accumulation of

PAH in soil and subsequent track-in to

residences. The sample locations should

consider the following factors: proximity to

airports, flight patterns, prevailing wind,

other relevant meteorological parameters

such as temperature, indoor PAH sources,

the influence of particle size on the PAH

distribution, assessment of the extent to

which the HVS3 sampling protocol recov-

* The Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory (RREL)

is now the National Risk Management Research

Laboratory (NRMRL).
3

ers particle laden PAHs representative of

the actual dust laden PAH distribution in

the carpet, and the distribution and concentration of PAHs remaining in the carpet after sampling with the HVS3 protocol. The collected samples will be analyzed for target PAH. If justified by the

results from this sampling campaign, a

thorough pilot field study may be desirable to determine the temporal and spacial effects on PAH concentrations in soil

and dust and the effect of jet engine exhaust on PAH exposure.

For a pilot study, one of the criteria for

selection of households is to have similar

indoor sources for these households so

that the effect of proximity to airports can

be better estimated. Any pilot field study

should probably be carried out during four

sampling campaigns: spring, summer, fall

and winter. This approach will enable us

to better understand the seasonal variation of climatic conditions.

The full report was submitted in fulfillment of Contract No. 68-D4-0023, Work

Assignment No. 1, under the sponsorship

of the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency.
4

Jane C. Chuang, is with Battelle, Columbus, OH 43201-2693

James Heidman is the EPA Work Assignment Manager (see below).

The complete report, entitled "Analysis of Soil and House Dust for Polycyclic

Aromatic Hydrocarbons," (Order No. PB96-177712/AS; Cost: $19.50, subject to

change) will be available only from:

National Technical Information Service

5285 Port Royal Road

Springfield, VA 22161

Telephone: 703-487-4650

The EPA Work Assignment Manager can be contacted at:

Sustainable Technology Division

National Risk Management Research Laboratory

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Cincinnati, OH 45268

United States

Environmental Protection Agency

National Risk Management Research Laboratory (G-72)

Cincinnati, OH 45268

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

EPA/600/SR-96/060

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POSTAGE & FEES PAID

EPA

PERMIT NO. G-35