PCB Indoor Air and Dust Exposure Risk Assessment for Educational and Institutional Buildings
RoseyFields conducted a comprehensive environmental exposure and risk assessment for an educational facility affected by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) associated with legacy building materials. The project involved evaluating PCB contamination within indoor environments where occupants may have been exposed through routine building use. Our team assessed the presence and behavior of PCBs in indoor air, settled dust, and building materials commonly associated with older construction, including caulking, adhesives, coatings, flooring systems, and other building components.
We performed a detailed review of environmental sampling data and evaluated multiple exposure pathways, including inhalation of PCB-contaminated indoor air and incidental ingestion of contaminated dust. Using established U.S. EPA risk assessment methodologies, RoseyFields conducted carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risk evaluations, exposure reconstruction analyses, statistical exposure characterization, and contaminant fate and transport assessments. The evaluation incorporated indoor air monitoring data, dust sampling results, exposure duration estimates, uncertainty analyses, and upper confidence limit calculations to characterize reasonable maximum exposure scenarios.
Our team developed exposure scenarios representative of building occupants and evaluated potential long-term health risks associated with chronic PCB exposure. The assessment identified and characterized potentially affected populations based on building occupancy patterns, time spent in various indoor environments, and measured contaminant concentrations. This work demonstrates RoseyFields’ expertise in indoor environmental quality investigations, PCB contamination assessments, exposure pathway analysis, human health risk assessment, and environmental consulting services for schools, commercial buildings, and other institutional facilities.
This investigation was conducted under the direction of Dr. Paul Rosenfeld, an environmental scientist and environmental forensic expert with extensive experience in environmental exposure assessment, toxicology, air quality, environmental fate and transport, risk assessment, and environmental forensics. Through RoseyFields LLC, Dr. Rosenfeld provides scientific consulting, environmental forensic analysis, regulatory support, and expert witness services involving environmental contamination, human exposure, and public health. His technical oversight helped ensure that the methodologies, scientific interpretations, and conclusions presented in this case study are consistent with accepted scientific principles and current best practices.