Exposure to volatile organic compounds and associated health risks in windsor, Canada

We examined relationships among measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and performed cancer and non-cancer risk assessments to determine potential adverse health effects. Personal, indoor and outdoor concentrations of VOCs were measured for 50 non-smoking adults in Windsor, Ontario during winter and summer 2005. The potential excess cancer cases associated with personal concentration were estimated by the Inhalation Unit Risk (USEPA IRIS) and Tumorigenic Concentration (Health Canada). Inhalation Reference Concentration (RfC) was used to evaluate non-cancer adverse effects. Indoor and personal concentrations were statistically compared. Correlations of personal concentrations were estimated to investigate the associations among VOCs. Estimated median lifetime excess cancer risks (95th percentile upper-bound) of benzene and 1,3-butadiene were 8.09 and 4.77 per 1 million. Acetaldehyde presented the highest non-cancer risk. For some VOCs, the personal and indoor geometric means were similar, but arithmetic personal means were higher than the arithmetic indoor means (p