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Determinants of lindane concentrations in air and settled dust in schools in France Volume 20, issue 6, November-December 2021

Authors
Observatoire de la qualité de l’air intérieur (OQAI)
Centre scientifique et technique du bâtiment (CSTB)
84, avenue Jean Jaurès
77447 Champs-sur-Marne Cedex 02
France
* Tirés à part
a Ces deux auteurs ont contribué à parts égales à l’étude.

Lindane is an organochlorine insecticide, widely used in the 20th century for crop treatment, as a wood preservative, or for human and veterinary pest control. Although now banned, lindane is still detected in indoor and outdoor air due to its persistence in the environment. As part of the nationwide survey carried out by the French Observatory of indoor air quality in a representative sample of schools between 2013 and 2017, lindane was detected in indoor air and in settled dust in 100% and 98% of schools, respectively; medians were equal to 1.4 ng/m3 and 36 ng/g of dust, respectively. The determinants of the total mass of lindane in classrooms are both the outdoor environment, more precisely, the presence around the building (< 2 km) of agricultural soils contaminated by past lindane use, and the building itself, whose age is likely to be associated with historical indoor wood preservation (roof and furniture). Additional factors either promote higher indoor concentrations of lindane, such as carpets and rugs and the lack of ceiling tiles, or decrease its indoor concentrations, such as a higher air change rate and a more frequent cleaning of floor and furniture.