Measurement of vinyl acetate monomer in consumer products and modeled estimates of consumer exposure.

Abstract

Background: Vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) (CAS 108-05-4) is employed in the creation of an array of polymers and copolymers used in the manufacture of consumer products. There is no direct use of VAM in consumer products. However, residual amounts of unreacted VAM in (co)polymer products have been identified as a possible general population exposure concern.

Objective: The objective of this evaluation was to provide a contemporary review of exposure to VAM via residual VAM (co)polymer in a range of consumer products in the United States.

Methods: The study authors conducted a market-basket sampling of residual VAM levels in 71 consumer products purchased in the United States that met the selection criteria. Subsequently, exposure assessments were conducted using ConsExpo (version 1.1.1) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Consumer Exposure Model (CEM; version 2.1) on a subset of those identified products.

Results: Of the products analyzed, 40 had VAM concentrations below the lowest detection limits (0.1-2 ppmw), 19 were non-detectable but the product materials demonstrated atypical or nonlinear calibration behavior, four had detectable VAM in the 2-10 ppmw range, and eight had detectable VAM from 10 to 648 ppmw. Eleven use scenarios were developed based on seven categories of consumer products from the evaluation. Resulting exposure estimates were all less than both acute and chronic non-cancer human health thresholds.

Impact: This study presents an analytical detection methodology for residual VAM present in a variety of consumer products. The information presented herein can inform future studies of VAM exposure and facilitate exposure estimates of VAM in similar products by providing measured concentrations. This study also demonstrates that, for the products evaluated, potential VAM exposure is less than acute and chronic health thresholds for the general public based on modeled exposure estimates.