Determination of personal exposure to volatile organic compounds and their health risks after the use of mosquito repellents in residential environments using passive sampling

Pil Gon Kim, Yun Hee Choi, Arum Lee, Jaeho Shin, Eugene Song, Stefana Sochichiu, Yerim Koo, Yongseok Hong, Jung Hwan Kwon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The ubiquitous use of mosquito repellents in homes across Asia, Africa, and South America is related with human exposure to indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs). There are three primary types of mosquito repellents: those in the form of coils, mats, and liquids. The repellent mechanisms of these products are distinct, resulting in the generation of varying types of VOCs during the repellent process. In this study, the emission characteristics of commercial coil-, mat-, and liquid-type mosquito repellents were observed in a laboratory chamber using real-time measurement. A previously developed personal passive sampler, ePTFE PS, was used to quantify personal exposure to indoor VOCs while 86 volunteers habitually used those three representative types for 3 h in their residence. Notable increase of indoor benzene was observed for coil- and mat-type mosquito repellents, while α-pinene concentration increased significantly following the use of liquid-type mosquito repellent. The average incremental cancer risks for benzene were 10−6 to 10−4 for adults following the use of coil- and mat-type mosquito repellents. The average non-cancer risks for all chemicals were <1 after the use of three types of mosquito repellents. Considering the potential human health risks associated with byproducts (e.g., particulate matter or carbon monoxide from incomplete combustion) emitted after mosquito coil use, further research on this topic is warranted.

Original languageEnglish
Article number175158
JournalScience of the Total Environment
Volume949
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024 Nov 1

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

  • Mosquito repellents
  • Personal passive sampler
  • PTR-TOF-MS
  • Residential apartment
  • VOCs

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Waste Management and Disposal
  • Pollution

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Determination of personal exposure to volatile organic compounds and their health risks after the use of mosquito repellents in residential environments using passive sampling'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this