Causes of Variability in Concentrations of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Indoor air

Abstract

Airborne concentrations of PCBs and PBDEs were measured in offices, homes, public environments, and cars. Variations in concentrations between different rooms in the same domestic and office buildings, showed some intra-building variability for both compound groups. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis revealed no clear and consistent relationships between log-normalized concentrations of PCBs and PBDEs in homes and offices and factors such as the number of personal computers. This is considered to reflect the complexity of relationships between indoor air contamination and microenvironment characteristics. The influence of personal computers was demonstrated when PBDE concentrations in one office fell appreciably following the exchange of a computer constructed in 1998 for one dating from 2003. Concentrations of PCBs in buildings constructed between 1950 and 1979 were significantly higher (p < 0.001) than in those constructed since. When two of the most contaminated cars were omitted as outliers, a significant (p < 0.01) positive linear relationship was detected between PBDE concentrations and vehicle age. Concentrations of PCBs and PBDEs were monitored throughout a calendar year in four homes and four offices. Although concentrations in warmer months usually exceeded those in colder months, seasonal variability in indoor contamination appears less significant than observed previously for outdoor air.

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in indoor and outdoor air in a community in Guangzhou, a megacity of southern China

“…In 2007, PBDEs that are largely from technical penta-and octa-BDE mixtures were banned in China leading to significant reduction in their use in relevant products and consequently the emissions from household products. This finding is in agreement with a previous observation that the air PBDE concentrations in an office in Birmingham, UK declined 80% after an old computer was replaced with a new one (Hazrati and Harrad, 2006). As ventilation facilities are rarely used for residential buildings and houses in China, the differences in the indoor air PBDE levels in the three buildings may also be attributed to housing characteristics.…”

“…Higher concentrations of BFRs have been measured indoors than outdoors due to the emission of BFRs from indoor electronic equipment and furniture (Wilford et al, 2004;Hazrati and Harrad, 2006). Zhang et al (2011) estimated the total emissions (87e550 ng/h) of PBDEs from a Toronto office using a Multimedia Indoor Mode.…”

Developmental neurotoxicity of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants

“…PBDEs have been detected in outdoor air, sediments, sludge, soil; in indoor air and house dust; in several food commodities; and in birds, marine species, fish and terrestrial animals de Wit, 2002;Gill et al 2004;Hites et al 2004;She et al 2004;McDonald, 2005;Law et al 2006;Hazrati and Harrad, 2006;Schecter et al 2006a;Chen et al 2007). As in the case with PCBs, they have a biomagnification potential in the food chain .…”

A review of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pollution in indoor air environment

“…Also, passive air samplers could provide the average concentrations of PCBs during the sampling time because they could work for a long time without noise. The passive air sampler is also a good tool to monitor and evaluate point-source pollution (Hazrati and Harrad, 2006;Klánová et al, 2006). The schematic of a passive air sampler is shown in Figure 3.…”