# Development of a Route of Exposure Model Using Silicone Wristbands as Personal Samplers

> **NIH NIH R43** · MYEXPOSOME, INC. · 2021 · $149,986

## Abstract

Project Summary
Silicone wristbands (SWBs) are a relatively new personal sampling approach but have been increasingly used
as personal passive samplers in over 25 publications representing over 1000 participants and 100s of detected
chemicals in the short time they have been available. Using SWBs is appealing because they are easy to wear,
have a wide range of potential capture, and do not require training, energy or maintenance. However, the
effect and magnitude of skin/sweat/contact exposure versus air exposure when reporting chemical data from
SWBs is not well understood. This application will help distinguish direct contact from atmospheric exposures
and help predict dominant exposure routes for individual chemicals. Helping to predict chemical uptake and
likely routes of exposure among multiple chemical classes will impact public health by dramatically increasing
the efficiency of mitigating strategies, risk assessment and study of the exposome and how it impacts human
health outcomes.
Traditional methods of capturing personal exposures typically represents a single route of exposure and
captures a specific chemical or set of chemicals. In contrast, silicone is a polymer well suited to capture a wide
range of organic chemistry and SWBs can capture compounds dermally or through direct contact in addition to
atmospheric sources. The resulting data from SWBs therefore represents a complex exposure profile that is
often more relevant to internal dose for certain compounds. However, the additional capacity of wristbands
absorbing chemicals from non-atmospheric sources is not yet easily characterized or predicted.
Physicochemical parameters have been used previously to help predict atmospheric uptake for different
chemicals. The proposed research will use SWB data and physicochemical parameters to build a prototype of a
model that helps predict dominant routes of exposure. SWBs will be used in paired configurations
(“traditional” and an “air-only” configuration) that will help compare routes of exposure and will be analyzed
for over 1500 chemical compounds including pesticides, flame retardants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,
phthalates, fragrances and additives in personal care products, food-related chemicals such as nicotine and
caffeine, and chemicals associated with industry like plasticizers.
There are two Aims to this proposal: 1) utilize multiple silicone wristband configurations in a field
demonstration of atmospheric and contact absorption with a 1500 chemical screen among a maximum of 30
individuals, and 2) build a prototype of an uptake model that predicts dominant routes of exposure for
chemicals based on their inherent characteristics. With two samplers for every participant, up to 60 samples
will be screened for 1529 organic chemicals representing a rich dataset of personal exposures. This will serve
as a good foundation to begin building robust exposure models.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10323407
- **Project number:** 1R43ES033586-01
- **Recipient organization:** MYEXPOSOME, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Steven Gehrig O'Connell
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $149,986
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-08-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10323407

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10323407, Development of a Route of Exposure Model Using Silicone Wristbands as Personal Samplers (1R43ES033586-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10323407. Licensed CC0.

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