Brominated and phosphate flame retardants (FRs) in indoor dust from different microenvironments: Implications for human exposure via dust ingestion and dermal contact

Abstract

Indoor dust has been widely used to monitor flame retardants (FRs) in indoor environment, but most studies only focused on floor dust. In the present study, FRs were examined in indoor dust from different locations. Dust from air conditioner (AC) filters, beddings, floor, and windows in bedrooms, and dust from AC filters, printer table surface, computer table surface, floor, and windows in offices were collected, respectively. Polybrominated diphenyl ether congener 209 (BDE 209) and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) were the most abundant brominated flame retardants (BFRs), and tris(chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP), tris(1,3-dichloroisopropyl) phosphate (TDCIPP), and triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) were the most abundant phosphate flame retardants (PFRs). In bedrooms, the AC filter dust had the highest median levels of BDE 209 (536 ng/g) and DBDPE (2720 ng/g), while bed dust had the highest median levels of ΣPFRs (2750 ng/g) among dust samples. In offices, printer table dust had higher median levels of BDE 209 (1330 ng/g), DBDPE (8470 ng/g), and ΣPFRs (11,000 ng/g) than those in other dust samples. The high dust ingestion values of BDE 209, DBDPE, and individual PFR were 0.28, 1.20, and <0.01-0.32 ng/kg bw/day and 7.37, 31.2, and <0.01-4.54 ng/kg bw/day for BDE 209, DBDPE, and individual PFR for adults and toddlers, respectively. The high dermal exposure values of individual PFR during sleeping were <0.01-0.23 and <0.01-0.36 ng/kg bw/day for adults and toddlers, respectively. More human exposure pathways other than dust ingestion should be considered, such as the dermal contact with beddings and furniture.

Seasonal variation and influence factors of organophosphate esters in air particulate matter of a northeastern Chinese test home

“…The median EDI for toddlers (48.0 ng/kg-bw/day) from indoor environment was the highest, followed by infants (42.0 ng/kg-bw/day), children (36.2 ng/kg-bw/ day), teenagers (20.7 ng/kg-bw/day) and adults (11.8.0 ng/kg-bw/ day), suggesting the much more sensitivity to OPE exposure for young people than adults. The estimated EDIs in this study were comparable with the EDIs calculated in Beijing (Wu et al, 2016;Cao et al, 2019a;Wang et al, 2019) and Guangdong (He et al, 2015;Zheng et al, 2015;Zheng et al, 2017), China. Additionally, TCIPP was the most abundant OPE for all age group exposure with the EDIs ranging from 4.16 ng/kgbw/day to13.1 ng/kg-bw/day.…”

Recent biomonitoring reports on phosphate ester flame retardants: a short review

“…Numerous other worker groups are expected to be more heavily exposed than the general population, especially when workers are in direct contact with large volumes of PEFRs as pure chemicals or at high concentrations in technical formulations at industrial sites and in manufacturing (e.g., at electronics dismantling facilities or electronic goods recycling areas). Measurements of PEFRs in air and dust in various occupational settings have also shown that the work environment may noticeably contribute to external exposure to PEFRs (Makinen et al, 2009;Ali et al, 2014;Wei et al, 2015;Zheng et al, 2017;Zhou et al, 2017;Muenhor et al, 2017;Bello et al, 2018;Ceballos et al, 2018;. Nevertheless, information on the nature and extent of occupational exposures to PEFRs, especially in terms of measurements of an individual's internal exposure, is still limited and warrants further investigations (characterization, quantification, and contribution to total PEFR burden).…”

“…The median concentration of total PEFRs was around 10-100 ng/g of lipids in breast milk from Sweden and several Asian countries, indicating that substantial exposure occurs at a young age via breastfeeding (Sunddkvist et al, 2010;Kim et al, 2014). The parent compounds (Liu et al, 2016;Zhao et al, 2016;Li et al, 2017;Ma et al, 2017;Qiao et al 2017) and their metabolites (Bui et al, 2017) were found in human serum and blood in a few studies. The metabolism of parent PEFRs tends to occur rapidly and the measurement of metabolites concentrations in urine is generally preferred to the invasive measurement of the nonmetabolized chemicals in serum for exposure assessment.…”

Understanding semi-volatile organic compounds in indoor dust

“…The maximum concentration was 1800 μg/g for TCEP and 350 μg/g for TCPP in daycare centres and 860 μg/g for TDCPP in homes. OPFRs in dust were also measured in building material markets, private cars, floor/carpet stores, offices, bedrooms and schools 15,16 with the total concentration ranging from 5.9 to 4800 μg/g.…”