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Environmental and Workplace Health

State of the Science Report for Dichloroethene

APPENDIX A: Upper-Bounding Estimates of Exposure to 1,1-Dichloroethene from Consumer Products 1

Consumer product type Scenarios Estimated daily exposure

Carpet latex backing

Inhalation

The background for the following scenarios is detailed in the VCCEP submission on DCE (U.S. EPA, 2002b).

  • maximum concentration of 3 ppm (3 µg/g) residual DCE monomer in carpet latex, with no loss during manufacturing and storage
  • carpet is made using 20 oz. of wet latex per square yard of carpet
  • a typical 20-m3 room has a ceiling 2.44 m high
Average amount = (3 µg/g) (20 oz./yd.2) (28.35 g/oz.)
(0.83612 m2/yd.2)
= 2034 µ g/m2

 

 

Scenario 1

  • air exchanges per hour (k2) = 0.3
  • release is first order and the rate constant (k1) is very large compared with k2
  • complete release of residual DCE over the 5-year lifetime of the carpet (t = 5 years × 365.25 days/year × 24 h/day = 43 830 h)
Average air concn. = (2034 µg/m2) (1-exp(-k2t)
k2t (2.44 m)

For an average Canadian child 0.5-4 years old, with a breathing rate of 0.39 m3/h (EHD, 1998):

Intake = (0.0634 µ g/m3) (0.39 m3/h) (24 h)
15.5 kg

Scenario 1

Average air concentration = 0.0634 µg/m3

Daily intake = 0.038 µg/kg-bw per day

 

Scenario 2

  • emission of DCE from carpet decreases as first-order decay, with the highest concentration being released initially. Over time, the amount available for release is reduced. It is assumed that the release rate constant corresponds to release half-lives of 2 weeks, 1 year and 5 years.
  • first-order rate constant (k1) = ln 2/half-life
  • air exchanges per hour (k2) = 0.3
  • t = 5 × 365.25 × 24 = 43 830 h
Air concn. = (k1)(2034 µg/m2)[1/k1(1-exp(-k1t) - 1/k2(1-exp(-k2t)]
(k2-k1)t (2.44 m)

For an average Canadian child 0.5-4 years old, with a breathing rate of 0.39 m3/h (EHD, 1998):

Intake = (air concn. µg /m3) ( 0.39 m3/h ) (24 h)
(15.5 kg)

Scenario 2

Air concentration (half-life) =

0.0633 µg/m3 (2 weeks)

0.061 µg/m3 (1 year)

0.032 µg/m3 (5 years)

Daily intake (half-life) =

0.04 µ g/kg-bw per day (2 weeks)

0.04 µ g/kg-bw per day (1 year)

0.02 µ g/kg-bw per day (5 years)

Food in contact with PVDC film wrap

Ingestion

  • mean residual DCE monomer in film wrap migrating to food is 5 ng/g food (U.S. EPA, 2002b)
  • mean food consumption for a 15.5-kg average Canadian child (0.5-4 years) is 1.8 kg/day (EHD, 1998)
  • consumption factor (fraction of food in contact with packaging) for PVDC is 0.05 (U.S. FDA, 2002).
Intake = (0.05) (5 ng/g) (1 µ g/1000 ng) (1.8 kg/day) (1000 g/kg)
(15.5 kg)

Daily intake = 0.03 µ g/kg-bw per day

  1. Each scenario assumes the maximum exposure possible for a 15.5-kg child (0.5-4 years), as this group has the highest inhalation volume and food consumption relative to body weight.