Interlaboratory comparison investigations (ICIs) and external quality assurance schemes (EQUASs) for flame retardant analysis in biological matrices: Results from the HBM4EU project

Exposure to flame retardants in European children — Results from the HBM4EU aligned studies

“…In our study, three countries analyzed BDE-209, but the compound was only quantifiable above detection limits in blood from France. Although Dvorakova et al (2021) stated that Europe has ample laboratories with the capacity to quantify BDE-209, the limitation may be a disconnect between detection and quantification limits and concentrations in biological matrices. DBDPE, which is often considered a replacement for BDE-209, suffers from even more serious analytical challenges due to poorer instrument sensitivity and higher LOQs ( Melymuk et al, 2015 ).…”

“…OPFRs have half-lives of hours to days, as opposed to most halogenated FRs with half-lives of weeks to years ( Dvorakova et al, 2021 ). Due to the rapid rate of metabolization and elimination of OPFRs, it is most appropriate to quantify metabolites in urine instead of the parent OPFR compounds.…”

“…Seventy-four of these laboratories successfully quantified at least one biomarker and were selected to participate in three rounds of interlaboratory comparison investigations ( Esteban López et al, 2021 ). In this study, all laboratories responsible for the analysis of FR biomarkers in urine and/or blood successfully completed the interlaboratory comparison investigations and external quality assurance schemes, described in detail by Dvorakova et al (2021) .…”

“…Because most lifestyle factors were reported by all countries, or were incompletely reported, multivariate analyses could not be conducted across the full dataset. Although the laboratories participated in a complete QA/QC programme to ensure the quality and comparability of the analytical results ( Dvorakova et al, 2021 ), they had different LODs and LOQs ( Tables S3 and S4 ). However, all laboratories passed the two-stage evaluation process ( Dvorakova et al, 2021 ; Esteban López et al, 2021 ) and were declared proficient by the HBM4EU project.…”

HBM4EU Occupational Biomonitoring Study on e-Waste—Study Protocol

“…From the BFRs and OPFRs we will select the most relevant chemicals based on a pre-screening effort that can provide informed decisions for additional analyses. Analysis of flame retardants in blood serum (BDE-47, BDE-153, BDE-209, α-HBCD, γ-HBCD, anti-DP, syn-DP, TBBPA, DBDPE, 2,4,6-TBP) and four OPFRs metabolites in urine were supported in the HBM4EU QA/QC programme [ 36 ].…”