Environmental determinants of polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations in residential carpet dust

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), banned in the United Sates in the late 1970s, are still found in indoor and outdoor environments. Little is known about the determinants of PCB levels in homes. We measured concentrations of 5 PCB congeners (105, 138, 153, 170, 180) in carpet dust collected between 1998–2000 from 1,187 homes in four sites: Detroit, Iowa, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Home characteristics, occupational history, and demographic information were obtained by interview. We used a geographic information system to geocode addresses and determine distances to the nearest major road, freight route, and railroad, percentage of developed land, number of industrial facilities within 2 km of residences, and population density. Ordinal logistic regression was used to estimate the associations between the covariates of interest and the odds of PCB detection in each site separately. Total PCBs levels (all congeners median concentration) were positively associated with either percentage of developed land (ORrange: 1.01-1.04 for each percentage increase) or population density (OR: 1.08 for every 1,000/mi2) in each site. The number of industrial facilities within 2 km of a home was associated with PCB concentrations; however, facility type and the direction of the association varied by site. Our findings suggest that outdoor sources of PCBs may be significant determinants of indoor concentrations.