Bleach-containing automatic toilet-bowl cleaners as sources of VOCs, associated indoor air concentrations and carcinogenic risk

Abstract

Household cleaning products are sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Bleach containing products are a special case because reactions occur between chloride and their organic content such as surfactants, perfumes, etc., generating VOCs. This study aimed to determine concentration of 13 VOCs in bleach-containing automatic toilet cleaners, to estimate their indoor air concentrations and associated exposure and health risk levels. Experiments with products purchased from supermarkets were conducted in 20-mL headspace vials by placing 1 g of sample with and without water. Solid-phase micro extraction with a DVB/CAR/PDMS fiber assembly was used for adsorption of VOCs from the headspace, and analyzed using a GC-MS. The median carbon tetrachloride and chloroform concentrations of the studied products ranged from 5.03 × 10?3 to 2.37 × 10?2 ?g/g and 2.53 × 10?2 to 2.37 ?g/g, respectively. The modeled 95th percentile indoor air concentrations in a 1.6 m3 bathroom with no ventilation were estimated to be 1 and 20 ?g/m3 for carbon tetrachloride and chloroform, respectively. The 95th percentile carcinogenic risk associated even with the use of the highest content product, 3.72 × 10?7 and 8.62 × 10?7 for carbon tetrachloride and chloroform respectively, were below the acceptable risk. In conclusion, automatic toilet-bowl cleaners were found to be sources of VOCs, but their emission potentials are not high to cause considerable indoor air concentrations over their suggested product lifetime. In turn, carcinogenic risks associated with inhalation exposure are below the de Minimis risk level of 10?6. © 2020