Aromatic Amine Fingerprints of Human Activities from Indoor Environments – Insights from Textile Analysis

Aromatic amines (AAs), many of which are suspected/known mutagens, are generated in indoor environments by human activities such as smoking tobacco, meat frying and hair dying. Through sorption to textiles followed by desorption during laundry washing they may reach the water cycle and adjacent surface waters, where they contribute to mutagenicity and other adverse effects. In this study, we obtained chemical fingerprints of AAs from textiles linked with different indoor activities. Three different types of fabrics (cotton, polyester and wool) were exposed in smoking pubs, hair salons, restaurant kitchens and households. We analysed the textile samples with a newly developed multitarget extraction and LC-HRMS method. 22 out of 52 target AAs could be detected. Large differences in AA concentrations were observed between the different indoor environments. Among the three different fabrics per site, wool accumulated the highest concentrations of AAs. Generally, the AA concentrations were highest in the smoking pubs, followed by restaurant kitchens, while hair salons and households showed similar concentrations. The compounds predominantly observed were 4-aminodiphenylamine and the known mutagens 2,4-diaminotoluene, 5-amino-o-cresol, o-anisidine, 2-aminopyridine, and the co-mutagenic carboline harman. This observation indicates a potential risk to human health from indoor contamination and shows a potential route for AAs to surface waters after being adsorbed onto textiles and subsequent laundering, posing a risk to aquatic ecosystems. Additionally, mutagenic AAs that are unique to specific locations could be observed, 4-chloro-o-toluidine in hair salon samples and 4-aminobiphenyl in smoking pub samples.