Holistic insights into the sources, distribution, exposure and temporal trends of chlorinated paraffins in the indoor environment

Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) is a group of complex chemical mixture containing millions of theoretical homologues and isomers and are ubiquitous environment due to their large production volumes, widespread usage and environmental persistency.

Most research on CPs have focused on the outdoor environment but there is limited research on their distribution and human exposure in the indoor environment.

The aim of this project is to establish workflows to reliably quantify CPs in indoor matrices and investigate their indoor distribution and human exposure. We will develop new analytical workflows using various high-resolution mass spectrometric (HRMS) techniques.

A software with a user-friendly graphical user interface will also be developed to facilitate use of different quantification methods as well as making these available to the general research community.

Different indoor settings such as homes, preschools, sports halls and offices will be selected, and dust, air, indoor organic films, hand wipes and silicone wrist bands will be sampled to provide a holistic view of indoor CPs.

We will also investigate the effects of building age, cleaning routines as well as environmental certifications on the indoor levels, patterns, distribution and exposure potential to CPs.

This project will produce standardized methods and give insight into the extent of CPs contamination in the indoor environment, which we hope will help to minimize indoor exposure risks to these toxic substances.