Air samples from a plant engaged in recycling electronics goods, a factory assembling printed circuit boards, a computer repair facility, offices equipped with computers, and outdoor air have been analyzed with respect to their content of brominated hydrocarbon and phosphate ester flame retardants. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, polybrominated biphenyls, 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)-ethane, tetrabromobisphenol A, and organophosphate esters were all detected in the indoor air samples, with the highest concentrations being detected in air from the recycling plant. In air from the dismantling hall at the recycling plant the average concentrations of decabromodiphenyl ether, tetrabromobisphenol A, and triphenyl phosphate were 38, 55, and 58 pmol/m3, respectively. Significantly higher levels of all of these additives were present in air in the vicinity of the shredder at the dismantling plant. This is the first time that 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)-ethane and several arylated phosphate esters are reported to be contaminants of air in occupational settings. At all of the other sites investigated, low levels of flame retardants were detected in the indoor air. Flame retardants associated with airborne particles, present at elevated levels, pose a potential health hazard to the exposed workers.
Organophosphate esters and phthalate esters are commonly used as additives in numerous building materials and consumer products. The use of these compounds is increasing, and phosphate and phthalate esters are to be regarded as ubiquitous contaminants in the indoor environment. These compounds comprise a number of different compounds that have been associated with biologic effects in animal studies as well as in humans. Thus, it is of concern to increase the knowledge about human exposure of these compounds because of their presence in indoor air. In this paper, thirty indoor environments have been surveyed with respect to seventeen of the most abundant of these compounds.
This review underlines the importance of indoor contamination as a pathway of human exposure to hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs). There is ample evidence of substantial contamination of indoor dust with these chemicals and that their concentrations in indoor air exceed substantially those outdoors. Studies examining the relationship between body burden and exposure via indoor dust are inconsistent; while some indicate a link between body burdens and PBDE and HBCD exposure via dust ingestion, others find no correlation. Likewise, while concentrations in indoor dust and human tissues are both highly skewed, this does not necessarily imply causality. Evidence suggests exposure via dust ingestion is higher for toddlers than adults. Research priorities include identifying means of reducing indoor concentrations and indoor monitoring methods that provide the most “biologically-relevant” measures of exposure as well as monitoring a wider range of microenvironment categories. Other gaps include studies to improve understanding of the following: emission rates and mechanisms via which these contaminants migrate from products into indoor air and dust; relationships between indoor exposures and human body burdens; relevant physicochemical properties; the gastrointestinal uptake by humans of these chemicals from indoor dust; and human dust ingestion rates.
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