抄録
VOCs are volatile organic compounds ubiquitously present in the environment as well as in various consumer products. Of VOCs, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) are the major chemicals investigated in this study although other critical VOCs are numerous.
In general, humans are exposed to VOCs not by single chemical but by mixture compounds such as BTEX and others. Therefore, risk assessment especially for VOCs should be carried out for mixture exposure scenario in consumer products. However, the real situation to perform the risk assessment for VOCs is entirely based on single chemical exposure due to lack of toxicological data for mixture compounds. Given the limited situation, risk assessment of VOCs showed that correction fluids and adhesives are of concern for benzene exposure exceeding risk limit of 1.0E-06, and ethylbenzene and xylene far exceeded hazard index (HI) of 1, which is a criteria for safe limits of human exposure. DEHP and DBP were also analyzed in cosmetics and human exposure level was assessment. HI values of DEHP and DBP due to exposure to cosmetic products did not exceed tolerable daily intake (TDI) or refenence dose (RfD), showing less than 1 (HI < 1). These data suggest VOCs and EDCs investigated in this study were shown to be safe although continuous efforts need to be made to monitor regularly and development of risk assessment methodology for mixture exposure to VOCs or EDCs.
