Exploring the Interior Exposome Using Citizen Science: Initial Results
From the New DustSafe Initiative
Abstract
Studies of interior air exposures to various human and non-human
components has largely been restricted to industrial exposures for the
purpose of regulation. In contrast, little attention has been paid to
exposure at the residential scale, where people spend much of their day
and may be exposed to particulate sources ranging from known toxins,
such as lead, arsenic, and asbestos, to human-produced chemicals of yet
unknown toxicity, such as flame retardants. To capitalize on experience
with citizen science initiatives as they pertain to environmental
health, researchers formed an international network called 360 Dust
Analysis, which provides guidance on citizen science and interior dust
collection, as well as research tools to examine dust through analysis
in regional labs. We present initial results from the July 2018 launch
of this program in the USA, called DustSafe USA and operated under
approved human subjects protocols by Indiana University
(http://www.urbanhealth.iupui.edu/). We launched via multiple media
strategies, including an extended television news segment, an article in
several Indiana newspapers, appearances in several statewide radio
shows, and via a widely distributed press release. As of this abstract
submission, well over 300 queries were received, and after only two
weeks of the launch the lab has received nearly 100 dust samples.
Participants are largely from central Indiana where most of the media
play occurred, but samples have also come from all over the country. We
will present geochemical and compositional results from the dust
analysis, but perhaps more importantly we will discuss how citizens were
engaged, how the funding model for such efforts might be developed, and
the general approach to research translation and citizen science.