Abstract
Volatilized compounds and aerosols are indicative of human and environmental health. To harness the wealth of diagnostic information offered by airborne compounds in both ambient and exhaled air, many gold-standard methods use bulky benchtop instrumentation or battery-powered air sampling pumps. Samples of collected air are frequently analyzed via benchtop gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and ion-mobility spectrometry techniques. These methodologies are staples in the laboratory setting and are unlikely to be fully displaced by new developments.
Nevertheless, many of the most significant knowledge gaps as to roles that airborne compounds play in both exposure and physiological change arise from difficulties in deploying these techniques for sampling and analysis of air in logistically challenging environments. Austere environments in which there is no access to electricity, imminent danger to civilian researchers, or ongoing medical operations, make it difficult to reliably collect air samples. As a result, low-burden methodologies must be used to assess airborne analytes.
The present work describes the application of low-burden sampling methodologies for characterizing volatiles in occupational and clinical settings. Specifically, lightweight silicone passive sampling wristbands worn by firefighters were used to assess their exposures to polyaromatic hydrocarbons at fire scenes. Furthermore, volatiles associated with the onset of respiratory infection were captured and analyzed from discarded filters used in ventilator circuits in the intensive care unit.
Two aims are addressed in this work: to inform best practices for reducing occupational exposure leading to cancer in the fire service and to determine target biomarkers to help reduce the amount of time necessary for accurate diagnosis of nascent respiratory infection for patients in the intensive care unit. Together, these vignettes showcase the utility of low-burden sampling methods for data collection in logistically challenging settings.