Elevated House Dust and Serum Concentrations of PBDEs in California: Unintended Consequences of Furniture Flammability Standards?

Abstract

Studies show higher house dust and body burden levels of PBDE flame retardants in North America than Europe; but little is known about exposure variation within North America, where California’s furniture flammability standard affects PBDE use. We compared dust samples from 49 homes in two California communities with 120 Massachusetts homes and with other published studies. Dust concentrations [median (range) ng/g] in California homes of BDE-47, -99, and -100 were 2700 (112-107 000), 3800 (102-170 000), and 684 (<MRL-30 900), respectively, and were 4−10 times higher than previously reported in North America. Maximum concentrations were the highest ever reported in indoor dust. We then investigated whether human serum PBDE levels were also higher in California compared to other North American regions by analyzing the 2003−2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the only data set available with serum from a representative sample of the U.S. population (n = 2040). California residence was significantly associated with nearly 2-fold higher ΣPBDE serum levels [least square geometric mean (LSGM) ng/g lipid, 73.0 vs 38.5 (p = 0.002)]. Elevated PBDE exposures in California may result from the state’s furniture flammability standards; our results suggest the need for further research in a larger representative sample.

Estimating exposures to indoor contaminants using residential dust

“…Several investigators have observed that biological PBDE levels measured in various populations mirror the global patterns in PBDE dust concentrations (Sjodin et al, 2008;Zota et al, 2008;Harrad et al, 2008b). Indeed, it is likely that the relatively high levels of PBDEs measured in blood and breast milk from North Americans compared with Europeans are the result of higher concentrations of PBDEs in North American household dust (Frederiksen et al, 2009).…”

“…Similarly, de Wit et al (2008) reported that median dust concentrations of BDE-209 were higher in apartments than in houses. In addition, Zota et al (2008) found that residential dust collected from households in a low-income community in California had higher PBDE levels than dust from a more affluent California community.…”

“…Notably, two studies of PBDE dust levels from California (Hwang et al, 2008;Zota et al, 2008) are absent from Figure 1, because BDE-209 was not analyzed. These two studies have reported some of the highest median concentrations of BDE-47 (2.7 and 2.7 mg/g, respectively) and BDE-99 (4.4 and 3.8 mg/g, respectively) in residential dust.…”

“…Although there is no readily available information regarding the use of PBDEs by country or state, there has likely been substantial regional variation. For example, the United Kingdom (Harrad et al, 2008b) and California (Zota et al, 2008) have stringent flammability standards that indirectly promote the use of Deca-DBE and Penta-BDE.…”

In Utero and Childhood Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (Pbde) Exposures and Neurodevelopment in the Chamacos Study

“…An unintended consequence of California's Technical Bulletin 117 (TB 117)-a fire safety law promulgated in the 1970s which requires that furniture, baby, and other household products resist open flame (California Department of Consumer Affairs 2000; Zota et al 2008)-is that PBDE concentrations in California children are now among the highest measured worldwide . Until 2005, the predominant chemical flame retardant used to comply with TB 117 was pentaBDE (comprising congeners BDEs 47, 99, 100, and 153).…”