Silicone wristbands for personal VOC and SVOC exposure monitoring: Current methods, potential applications, and challenges

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-2026

Department

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Abstract

Silicone wristbands are increasingly used as passive samplers for assessing personal exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and semi volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). This review synthesizes 107 peer reviewed studies published between 2014 and 2025 and examines current analytical approaches applied in wristband exposure assessment. Key methodological steps, including treatment before and after deployment, extraction and cleanup procedures, and instrumental analysis, are summarized to characterize prevailing practices across studies. For VOC analysis, thermal desorption is the most applied approach. For SVOCs, mechanical shaking solvent extraction dominates current workflows and is typically combined with cleanup to reduce silicone related interferences prior to chromatographic analysis. Except for analytical processes, this review also connects analytical choices to wristbands’ application in exposure assessment and comparison to other sampling approaches. Wristbands are particularly suited for integrating personal exposure over extended durations and across multiple exposure pathways. Through translating loads to air equivalent concentrations, silicone wristband complements the other active and passive air samplers as exposure assessment tools. Across applications, significant challenges persist in data interpretation and comparability due to variability in deployment protocols, differences in chemical sensitivity of uptake to environmental conditions, and inconsistence in reporting of quality assurance practices. Greater standardization of analytical protocols and more transparent reporting practices would enhance the reliability and comparability of wristband exposure data across studies.

Publication Title

Trends in Environmental Analytical Chemistry

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