Estimating children’s soil and dust ingestion rates using novel methods and approaches
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Chemicals found in our everyday environment may pose health risks to humans via various exposure pathways. For children of different lifestages, soil and dust ingestion may potentially be a major route of exposure to environmental chemicals such as lead, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), arsenic, asbestos, and other toxic substances. Chemicals can be deposited on soil and dust due to emissions from industrial sources from various chemical and physical processes. However, the extent to which chemicals present in soil and dust are ingested is an understudied area in exposure science. Better understanding of children’s soil and dust ingestion rates, using holistic multimedia, multi-pathway approaches, is therefore, essential for filling this research gap and yielding accurate assessments and recommendations for risk management decisions. Reliable, distributional estimates of soil and dust ingestion for all lifestages with less uncertainty and variability are important for exposure assessments, model inputs, and risk assessments. At the same time, accurate estimates of soil and dust ingestion rates are not possible without engaging diverse stakeholders and involving community leaders and partners. Observing and learning about children’s major activities by engaging parents, caregivers, and teachers, as well as community leaders and partners, can provide useful insights into children’s behaviors and potential exposures in both residential and outdoor environments. For this symposium session, we envision abstracts reporting soil and dust ingestion estimates for various lifestages or novel approaches that could be used to develop more accurate soil and dust ingestion estimates.