Use of wristbands to measure exposure to environmental pollutants in children: Recent advances and future directions

Abstract

Being inexpensive, non-invasive, and easy to use, silicone wristbands are well suited to passive sampling for environmental contaminants in population studies, including children. Silicone has shown the capacity to absorb and retain organic chemical pollutants that humans are frequently exposed to through inhalation and dermal exposure. Concentrations of pollutants captured in the wristbands can be quantified through optimized sample extraction and analysis. In this brief review, we summarized silicone wristband studies conducted between 2016 and 2022 that measured children's exposure to pollutants, such as pesticides, flame retardants and other persistent environmental pollutants. Recent advances in the use of wristbands for monitoring contaminant exposure in children include novel detections of phenols, nicotine, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the use of polydimethylsiloxane bars for streamlined extraction, and high-resolution mass spectrometry for broad-spectrum evaluation of chemical exposures. Wristbands will continue to gain traction as passive samplers for assessing body burdens of organic pollutants in children, hence we propose future research directions, including additional methodological and validation studies, and long-term studies that investigate patterns, levels, and effects of exposure to organic pollutants in larger cohorts.