Beyond Traditional Organophosphate Triesters: Prevalence of Emerging Organophosphate Triesters and Organophosphate Diesters in Indoor Dust from a Mega E-waste Recycling Industrial Park in South China

Abstract

Numerous studies have reported the environmental contamination with traditional organophosphate triesters (tri-OPEs), but there is very little information on emerging tri-OPEs and organophosphate diesters (di-OPEs), especially in e-waste recycling areas. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive survey to monitor a broad suite of 11 traditional tri-OPEs, 12 emerging OPEs, and 10 di-OPEs in indoor dust collected from the workshops of (n = 42) and residential homes adjacent to (n = 24) a mega e-waste recycling industrial park in South China. In addition to traditional tri-OPEs, all of the emerging OPEs and di-OPEs were frequently detected in the dust samples. Total concentrations of emerging tri-OPEs and di-OPEs were in the range of 1210–62 900 and 2010–55 600 ng/g in the workshop dust and 435–23 700 and 186–4350 ng/g in the local home dust, respectively, which were comparable to those of traditional tri-OPEs (1160–61 500 and 370–13 900 ng/g, respectively). Most OPEs exhibited significantly higher concentrations in workshop dust versus local home dust (p < 0.05), indicating that e-waste dismantling activities contributed to the high residues of OPEs in indoor dust. Correlation analysis revealed that tri-OPEs have some common emission sources, i.e., e-waste and household products, while di-OPEs could originate from different sources, e.g., tri-OPE degradation, direct commercial application, and impurities in tri-OPE formulas. For both occupational workers and local adults, the median estimated daily intake values of emerging tri-OPEs (7.5 and 1.7 ng/kg bw/day, respectively) and di-OPEs (3.9 and 0.2 ng/kg bw/day, respectively) were comparable to that of traditional tri-OPEs (4.3 and 1.0 ng/kg bw/day, respectively), which suggests the important contribution of the emerging tri-OPEs and di-OPEs to the overall risks of human external exposure to OPE chemicals.

Single-Use Face Masks as a Potential Source of Synthetic Antioxidants to the Environment

“…AO626 and its oxidation product, bis­(2,4-di- tert -butylphenyl) pentaerythritol diphosphate (AO626O 2 ), were detected in <50% of the samples, and at low concentrations. Thus, this study indicates that AO168 is the primary OPA congener used in face masks, which is in line with previous observations that concentrations of its oxidation product (AO168O) dominate OPA oxidation product concentrations in environmental matrices. ,, …”

“…Thus, this study indicates that AO168 is the primary OPA congener used in face masks, which is in line with previous observations that concentrations of its oxidation product (AO168O) dominate OPA oxidation product concentrations in environmental matrices. 24,34,35 Variations, Compositions, and Correlations. ∑OPAs (median of 1.54 × 10 5 ng/g) was much higher than ∑SPAs (median of 2.70 × 10 4 ng/g).…”

Identification of Environmental Liquid-Crystal Monomers: A Class of New Persistent Organic Pollutants—Fluorinated Biphenyls and Analogues—Emitted from E-Waste Dismantling

“…The measured ∑ 34 FBAs in LCD dust were higher than the previously reported e-waste dust concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (range: 300−180,000 ng/g), 32 organophosphate triesters (range: 1160−61,500 ng/g with a median of 9890 ng/g), 33 phenolic antioxidants (range: 2970−14,300 ng/ g with a median of 5260 ng/g), 34 and ultraviolet filters (range: 790−179,000 ng/g with a median of 2060 ng/g). 34 However, they were roughly comparable to the reported e-waste dust concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (130− 1,100,000 ng/g) and several alternative flame retardants (160−320,000 ng/g).…”

High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry Screening of Emerging Organophosphate Esters (OPEs) in Wild Fish: Occurrence, Species-Specific Difference, and Tissue-Specific Distribution

“…Beyond the above well-known OPEs, some emerging OPEs have been recently discovered in consumer products or in the environment. − For example, bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-phenyl phosphate (BEHPP) was identified in indoor dust collected from Nanjing city in China for the first time, following its widespread presence in sediment, surface soil, and indoor dust in China. ,,, Two new aryl-OPEs including 2-biphenylol diphenyl phosphate (BPDPP) and tris­(2-biphenyl) phosphate (TBPP) were identified in smartphones, and subsequently, TBPP and BPDPP isomers were detected in indoor dust and soil from China. ,, An abundant and ubiquitous OPE, namely, tris­(2,4-di- tert -butylphenyl) phosphate (TDtBPP), was continuously found in various environment media such as office, home, and e-waste dismantling facility, sediment, water, and atmosphere. ,− ,, This analysis delivers two insights: (a) the prevalence of emerging OPEs in the environment indicates the underestimation of ecological risk of aquatic organisms in most previous studies, which have generally focused on traditional OPEs; and (b) the monitoring list of OPEs is continuing to be expanded. Unfortunately, current chemical regulations do not call for a similar level of scrutiny of the emerging OPEs as of well-known OPEs.…”