PMID- 38408627 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20240519 LR - 20240519 IS - 1096-0953 (Electronic) IS - 0013-9351 (Linking) VI - 250 DP - 2024 Jun 1 TI - HBM4EU E-waste study: Assessing persistent organic pollutants in blood, silicone wristbands, and settled dust among E-waste recycling workers in Europe. PG - 118537 LID - S0013-9351(24)00441-9 [pii] LID - 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118537 [doi] AB - E-waste recycling is an increasingly important activity that contributes to reducing the burden of end-of-life electronic and electrical apparatus and allows for the EU's transition to a circular economy. This study investigated the exposure levels of selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in workers from e-waste recycling facilities across Europe. The concentrations of seven polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and eight polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) congeners were measured by GC-MS. Workers were categorized into five groups based on the type of e-waste handled and two control groups. Generalized linear models were used to assess the determinants of exposure levels among workers. POPs levels were also assessed in dust and silicone wristbands (SWB) and compared with serum. Four PCB congeners (CB 118, 138, 153, and 180) were frequently detected in serum regardless of worker's category. With the exception of CB 118, all tested PCBs were significantly higher in workers compared to the control group. Controls working in the same company as occupationally exposed (Within control group), also displayed higher levels of serum CB 180 than non-industrial controls with no known exposures to these chemicals (Outwith controls) (p < 0.05). BDE 209 was the most prevalent POP in settled dust (16 mug/g) and SWB (220 ng/WB). Spearman correlation revealed moderate to strong positive correlations between SWB and dust. Increased age and the number of years smoked cigarettes were key determinants for workers exposure. Estimated daily intake through dust ingestion revealed that SigmaPCB was higher for both the 50th (0.03 ng/kg bw/day) and 95th (0.09 ng/kg bw/day) percentile exposure scenarios compared to values reported for the general population. This study is one of the first to address the occupational exposure to PCBs and PBDEs in Europe among e-waste workers through biomonitoring combined with analysis of settled dust and SWB. Our findings suggest that e-waste workers may face elevated PCB exposure and that appropriate exposure assessments are needed to establish effective mitigation strategies. CI - Copyright (c) 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. FAU - Cseresznye, Adam AU - Cseresznye A AD - Toxicological Centre, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. FAU - Hardy, Emilie M AU - Hardy EM AD - Environmental Hygiene and Human Biological Monitoring, Department of Health Protection, Laboratoire National de Sante (LNS), Luxembourg, Luxembourg. FAU - Ait Bamai, Yu AU - Ait Bamai Y AD - Toxicological Centre, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. FAU - Cleys, Paulien AU - Cleys P AD - Toxicological Centre, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. FAU - Poma, Giulia AU - Poma G AD - Toxicological Centre, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. FAU - Malarvannan, Govindan AU - Malarvannan G AD - Toxicological Centre, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. FAU - Scheepers, Paul T J AU - Scheepers PTJ AD - Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. FAU - Viegas, Susana AU - Viegas S AD - Comprehensive Health Research Center, NOVA National School of Public Health, Public Health Research Centre, NOVA University Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal. FAU - Martins, Carla AU - Martins C AD - Comprehensive Health Research Center, NOVA National School of Public Health, Public Health Research Centre, NOVA University Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal. FAU - Porras, Simo P AU - Porras SP AD - Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland. FAU - Santonen, Tiina AU - Santonen T AD - Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland. FAU - Godderis, Lode AU - Godderis L AD - Environment and Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Idewe, External Service for Prevention and Protection at Work, Heverlee, Belgium. FAU - Verdonck, Jelle AU - Verdonck J AD - Environment and Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. FAU - Poels, Katrien AU - Poels K AD - Environment and Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. FAU - Joao Silva, Maria AU - Joao Silva M AD - ToxOmics -Centre for Toxicogenomics and Human Health, Department of Human Genetics, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA), NOVA Medical School, Lisbon, Portugal. FAU - Louro, Henriqueta AU - Louro H AD - ToxOmics -Centre for Toxicogenomics and Human Health, Department of Human Genetics, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA), NOVA Medical School, Lisbon, Portugal. FAU - Martinsone, Inese AU - Martinsone I AD - Institute of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health, Rigas Stradins University, Riga, Latvia. FAU - Akulova, Lasma AU - Akulova L AD - Institute of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health, Rigas Stradins University, Riga, Latvia. FAU - van Dael, Maurice AU - van Dael M AD - Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. FAU - van Nieuwenhuyse, An AU - van Nieuwenhuyse A AD - Environmental Hygiene and Human Biological Monitoring, Department of Health Protection, Laboratoire National de Sante (LNS), Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Environment and Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. FAU - Mahiout, Selma AU - Mahiout S AD - Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland. FAU - Duca, Radu Corneliu AU - Duca RC AD - Environmental Hygiene and Human Biological Monitoring, Department of Health Protection, Laboratoire National de Sante (LNS), Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Environment and Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. FAU - Covaci, Adrian AU - Covaci A AD - Toxicological Centre, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: adrian.covaci@uantwerpen.be. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20240224 PL - Netherlands TA - Environ Res JT - Environmental research JID - 0147621 SB - IM MH - Humans MH - *Dust/analysis MH - *Occupational Exposure/analysis MH - Europe MH - *Electronic Waste/analysis MH - *Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers/blood/analysis MH - *Recycling MH - Adult MH - Male MH - Middle Aged MH - *Polychlorinated Biphenyls/blood/analysis MH - Female MH - Persistent Organic Pollutants/blood MH - Silicones MH - Environmental Monitoring/methods OTO - NOTNLM OT - Biomonitoring OT - Europe OT - Occupational exposure OT - PBDEs OT - PCBs OT - e-waste COIS- Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. EDAT- 2024/02/27 00:42 MHDA- 2024/05/20 00:42 CRDT- 2024/02/26 19:16 PHST- 2024/01/06 00:00 [received] PHST- 2024/02/17 00:00 [revised] PHST- 2024/02/20 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2024/05/20 00:42 [medline] PHST- 2024/02/27 00:42 [pubmed] PHST- 2024/02/26 19:16 [entrez] AID - S0013-9351(24)00441-9 [pii] AID - 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118537 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Environ Res. 2024 Jun 1;250:118537. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118537. Epub 2024 Feb 24.