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Humans spend most of their time indoors, in residences and commercial buildings. In this thesis, I evaluate exposures to volatile (VOCs) and semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in indoor environments. I use a combination of literature review and evaluation, mechanistic modeling, and skin-wipe collection and analysis to develop an understanding of the role of indoor air as an exposure medium for inhalation and passive dermal uptake of pollutants. This dissertation explores three related research topics on indoor environments and human exposures. In Chapter 2, I conduct a comprehensive review of reported measurements of pollutants found in commercial buildings. I used the literature review to estimate concentration ranges that can be compared to health-based exposure limits as basis for hazard assessment. I use the regulatory exposure limits set by government agencies to calculate hazard indices as the ratio of observed concentrations to regulatory standards. I also compare the odor and pungency thresholds of individual pollutants to observed concentrations to evaluate their potential to exceed odor thresholds. The hazard evaluation identifies the potential for health impacts at concentrations commonly found in commercial buildings. This analysis focuses exclusively on VOCs and SVOCs in commercial buildings and identified a limited set of pollutants that pose health concerns. I also characterize the selected pollutants in terms of the chemical properties that,affect partitioning to various indoor surfaces, and subsequently their fate and transport in indoor environments. Based on chemical properties and indoor fate, I grouped the pollutants into five groups. I use an hierarchical k-means analysis based on octanol-air partitioning coefficient, octanol-water partitioning coefficient, air-water partitioning coefficient, and molecular weight. The pollutants in each group are expected to behave similarly in indoor environments. In Chapter 3, I evaluate the role of build

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used as flame retardants in furniture foam, electronics, and other home furnishings. A field study was conducted that enrolled 139 households from California, which has had more stringent flame retardant requirements than other countries and areas. The study collected passive air, floor and indoor window surface wipes, and dust samples (investigator collected using an HVS3 and vacuum cleaner) in each home. PentaBDE and BDE209 were detected in the majority of the dust samples and many floor wipe samples, but the detection in air and window wipe samples was relatively low. Concentrations of each PBDE congener in different indoor environmental media were moderately correlated, with correlation coefficients ranging between 0.42 and 0.68. Correlation coefficients with blood levels were up to 0.65 and varied between environmental media and age group. Both investigator-collected dust and floor wipes were correlated with serum levels for a wide range of congeners. These two sample types also had a relatively high fraction of samples with adequate mass for reliable quantification. In 42 homes, PBDE levels measured in the same environmental media in the same home 1 year apart were statistically correlated (correlation coefficients: 0.57-0.90), with the exception of BDE209 which was not well correlated longitudinally.

This paper will discuss and analyse the different methods of wiping media to make them forensically clean. This will include naming the tools, running them on a device and seeing what the device logically looks like after it has completed. It will then follow on to analyse the effectiveness of software that is designed to eliminate evidence (such as web browser history) from a computer. This analysis will take place on a small FAT32 partition running Windows 98. The test environment will be limited to using only internet explorer. The procedure will consist of installing a 'vanilla' test system, taking a bitwise copy and recording the md5. Websites will be browsed and recorded and then the system will be imaged again. After this the software will be installed and run and the 2 images will be compared. The main things that will be checked will be the temporary internet files and the registry. This will be carried out with at least 2 separate pieces of software.