Abstract：
Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) is a widely utilized volatile chemical in industrial applications, including dry cleaning and metal degreasing. Exposure to PCE potentially presents a significant health risk to workers as well as communities near contamination sites. Adverse health effects arise not only from PCE, but also from PCE degradation products, such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and vinyl chloride (VC). PCE, TCE, and VC can contaminate water, soil, and air, leading to exposure through multiple pathways, including inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact. This study focused on a community setting in Martinsville, Indiana, a working-class Midwestern community in the United States, where extensive PCE contamination has occurred due to multiple contamination sites (referring to \'plumes\'), including a Superfund site. Utilizing proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS), PCE, TCE, and VC concentrations were measured in the exhaled breath of 73 residents from both within and outside the plume areas. PCE was detected in 66 samples, TCE in 26 samples, and VC in 68 samples. Our results revealed a significant positive correlation between the concentrations of these compounds in exhaled breath and indoor air (Pearson correlation coefficients: PCE = 0.75, TCE = 0.71, and VC = 0.89). This study confirms the presence of PCE and its degradation products in exhaled breath in a community exposure investigation, demonstrating the potential of using exhaled breath analysis in monitoring exposure to environmental contaminants. This study showed the feasibility of utilizing PTR-TOF-MS in community investigations to assess exposure to PCE and its degradation products by measuring these compounds in exhaled breath and indoor air.
摘要：
四氯乙烯（PCE）是一种在工业应用中广泛使用的挥发性化学品，包括干洗和金属脱脂。暴露于PCE可能对工人以及污染地点附近的社区构成重大健康风险。不利的健康影响不仅来自PCE，还有PCE降解产物，如三氯乙烯（TCE）和氯乙烯（VC）。PCE,TCE,VC会污染水，土壤,和空气,导致通过多种途径接触，包括吸入,摄取，和皮肤接触。这项研究的重点是马丁斯维尔的一个社区环境，印第安纳州,美国中西部工人阶级社区，如果由于多个污染部位而发生了广泛的PCE污染(指“羽流”)，包括一个超级基金网站。利用质子转移反应飞行时间质谱(PTR-TOF-MS),PCE,TCE,在羽流区域内外的73名居民的呼气中测量了VC浓度。在66个样本中检测到PCE，26个样品中的TCE，和VC在68个样品中。我们的结果表明，呼出气和室内空气中这些化合物的浓度之间存在显着正相关（皮尔逊相关系数：PCE=0.75，TCE=0.71和VC=0.89）。这项研究证实了在社区暴露调查中呼出气中存在PCE及其降解产物，证明使用呼气分析监测暴露于环境污染物的潜力。这项研究表明，在社区调查中利用PTR-TOF-MS通过测量呼出气和室内空气中的这些化合物来评估PCE及其降解产物的暴露。
