Recent and ongoing research by the lab involves the use of silicone wristbands as personal passive sampling devices to assess individual exposure to semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). As silicone absorbs chemicals similarly to human skin and measurements from biomarkers tend to be correlated with wristband measurements, silicone wristbands are a valuable tool to measure what someone is exposed to through air and skin contact, especially when considering mixtures of chemicals. We have used this approach to conduct studies in populations including firefighters, children, pet owners, and pregnant women.
For further information, see our publications on this topic (linked below).
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are participating in a wristband study, you do not need to, nor should you, change your daily activities. Wearing the wristband all the time while you continue your routine behavior provides researchers with the most accurate information on chemical exposures. If you will be doing something outside your normal routine (such as traveling), speak to your research coordinator before wearing the wristband.
Yes, wear the wristband everywhere. Go about your normal daily activities.
Yes, this should not have an effect on the wristband or its ability to measure exposure.
Yes, it's important to include exposures received during sleep.
If it is an activity during which you think the wristband will be directly immersed in some material (paint, soil, fertilizer, sawdust, wood stain, mineral spirits, cleaning products, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, etc.), take the wristband off and, if possible, place it on top of the tin used for storage and in a location nearby where it will not be in direct contact with the material.
We don't recommend directly washing the wristband intentionally, but it will be washed when you wash your hands or take a shower.
That's okay. We know accidents happen. Contact the researchers. Their contact information should be on your research consent form.
Contact the researchers. Their contact information should be on your research consent form.
Note this on the form attached to the wristband kit. While it is okay to miss a day, we need to know how long you wore it.
Right now, we don't know if it makes a difference (although we hope to investigate this soon). We recommend wearing it on whichever hand feels most comfortable for you.
We don't currently know if wearing clothing over the wristband has an effect on chemical uptake; while we hope to investigate this soon, at this point we do not think it matters.
We know that wristband measurements are meaningful surrogates for the relative amount of chemicals that we are exposed to and which get into our bodies. For example, our research studies (see below) have shown that chemical levels in wristbands are significantly correlated with levels in blood and urine. However, at this point, we cannot directly translate a wristband measurement to a blood measurement.
The wristband measurements are not a diagnostic or clinical tool, and elevated levels are not necessarily indicative of an individual's risk of disease.
It depends on the study. Ask your research coordinator for specific details.
Associated Publications
Samon, S., Hoffman, K., Herkert, N., Stapleton, H.M. 2024. Chemical Uptake into Silicone Wristbands Over a Five Day Period. Environmental Pollution, 349: 123877. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123877.
Samon, S., Herkert, N., Ghassabian, A., Liu, H., Hammel, S.C., Trasande, L., Stapleton, H.M., Hoffman, K. 2023. Measuring Semi-Volatile Organic Compound Exposures During Pregnancy Using Silicone Wristbands. Chemosphere, 339: 139778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139778
Young, A.S., Herkert, N., Stapleton, H.M., Coull, B.A., Hauser, R., Zoeller, T., Behnisch, P.A., Felzel, E., Brouwer, A., Gallen, J.G. 2023. Hormone Receptor Activities of Complex Mixtures of Known and Suspect Chemicals in Personal Silicone Wristband Samplers Worn in Office Buildings. Chemosphere, 315: 137705. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137705
Samon, S.M., Hammel, S.C., Stapleton, H.M., Anderson, K.A. 2022. Silicone Wristbands as Personal Passive Sampling Devices: Current Knowledge, Recommendations for Use and Future Directions. Environment International, 169: 107339. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36116363/
Levasseur, J.L., Hoffman, K., Herkert, N.J., Cooper, E., Hay, D., Stapleton, H.M. 2022. Characterizing Firefighter’s Exposure to Over 130 SVOCs Using Silicone Wristbands: A Pilot Study Comparing On-Duty and Off-Duty Exposures. Science of the Total Environment, 834: 155237. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35447169/
Reddam, A., Herkert, N., Stapleton, H.M., Volz, D.C. 2022. Partial Dust Removal in Vehicles Does Not Mitigate Human Exposure to Organophosphate Esters. Environmental Research, 205: 112525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.112525
Wise, C.F., Hammel, S.C., Herkert, N., Ospina, M., Calafat, A.M., Breen, M., Stapleton, H.M. 2022. Comparative Assessment of Pesticide Exposures in Domestic Dogs and Their Owners Using Silicone Passive Samplers and Biomonitoring. Environmental Science & Technology, 56 (2), 1149-1161. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34964617/
Hoffman, K., Levasseur, J.L., Zhang, S., Hay, D., Herkert, N.J., Stapleton, H.M. 2021. Monitoring Human Exposure to Organophosphate Esters: Comparing Silicone Wristbands with Spot Urine Samples as Predictors of Internal Dose. Environmental Science and Technology Letters, 8(9): 805-810. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00629
Young, A.S., Herkert, N., Stapleton, H.M., Guillermo Codeno Laurent, J., Jones, E.R., MacNaughton, P., Coull, B.A., James-Todd, T., Hauser, R., Lahaie Luna, M., Chung, Y.S., Allen, J.G. 2021. Chemical Contaminant Exposures Assessed Using Silicone Wristbands Among Occupants in Office Buildings in the USA, UK, China, and India. Environment International, 156: 106727. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34425641/
Levasseur, J., Hammel, S.C., Hoffman, K., Phillips, A.L., Zhang, S., Ye, X., Calafat, A.M., Webster, T.F., Stapleton, H.M. 2021. Young Children’s Exposure to Phenols in the Home: Associations Between House Dust, Hand Wipes, Silicone Wristbands, and Urinary Biomarkers. Environment International, 147: 106317. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33341585/
Kassotis, C.D., Herkert, N.J., Hammel, S.C., Hoffman, K., Xia, Q., Kullman, S.W., Sosa, J.A., Stapleton, H.M., 2020. Thyroid Receptor Antagonism of Chemicals Extracted from Personal Silicone Wristbands within a Papillary Thyroid Cancer Pilot Study. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(23): 15296–15312. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33185092/
Wise, C., Hammel, S.C., Herkert, N., Ma, J., Motsinger-Reif, A., Stapleton, H.M., Breen, M. 2020. Comparative Exposure Assessment Using Silicone Passive Samplers Indicates Domestic Dogs are Sentinels to Support Human Health Research. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(12): 7409-7419. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32401030/
Hammel, S.C., Hoffman, K., Phillips, A.L., Levasseur, J., Lorenzo, A.M., Webster, T.F., Stapleton, H.M. 2020. Comparing the Use of Silicone Wristbands, Hand Wipes, and Dust to Evaluate Children’s Exposure to Flame Retardants and Plasticizers. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(7): 4484-4494. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32122123/
Reddam, A., Tait, G., Herkert, N., Hammel, S.C., Stapleton, H.M., Volz, D.C. 2020. Longer Commutes are Associated with Increased Human Exposure to Tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) Phosphate. Environment International, 136: 105499. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31999975/
Escher, B.I., Stapleton, H.M., Schymanski, E.L. 2020. Tracking Complex Mixtures of Chemicals in our Changing Environment. Science, 367(6476): 388-392. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aay6636
Craig, J.A., Ceballos, D.M., Fruh, V., Petropoulos, Z.E., Allen, J.G., Calafat, A.M., Ospina, M., Stapleton, H.M., Hammel, S.C., Gray, R., Webster, T.F. 2019. Exposure of Nail Salon Workers to Phthalates, Di(2-ethylhexyl) Terephthalate, and Organophosphate Esters: A Pilot Study. Environmental Science & Technology, 53(24): 14630-14637. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31736299/
Gibson, E.A., Stapleton, H.M., Calero, L., Holmes, D., Burke, K., Martinez, R., Cortes, B., Nematollahi, A., Evans, D., Anderson, K.A., Herbstman, J.B. 2019. Differential Exposure to Organophosphate Flame Retardants in Mother-Child Pairs. Chemosphere, 219: 567-573. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30553217/
Hammel, S.C., Phillips, A.L., Hoffman, K., Stapleton. H.M. 2018. Evaluating the Use of Silicone Wristbands to Measure Personal Exposure to Brominated Flame Retardants. Environmental Science & Technology, 52(20): 11875-11885. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30216050/
Hammel, S.C., Hoffman, K., Webster, T.F., Anderson, K.A., Stapleton, H.M. 2016. Measuring Personal Exposure to Organophosphate Flame Retardants Using Silicone Wristbands and Hand Wipes. Environmental Science & Technology, 50(8): 4483-4491. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26975559/