Measuring Personal Exposure to Organophosphate Flame Retardants Using Silicone Wristbands and Hand Wipes

Abstract

Organophosphate flame retardants (PFRs) are widely used as replacements for polybrominated diphenyl ethers in consumer products. With high detection in indoor environments and increasing toxicological evidence suggesting a potential for adverse health effects, there is a growing need for reliable exposure metrics to examine individual exposures to PFRs. Silicone wristbands have been used as passive air samplers for quantifying exposure in the general population and occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Here we investigated the utility of silicone wristbands in measuring exposure and internal dose of PFRs through measurement of urinary metabolite concentrations. Wristbands were also compared to hand wipes as metrics of exposure. Participants wore wristbands for five consecutive days and collected first morning void urine samples on three alternating days. Urine samples were pooled across the three days and analyzed for metabolites of the following PFRs: tris(1,3-dichloroisopropyl) phosphate (TDCIPP), tris(1-chloro-2-isopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP), triphenyl phosphate (TPHP), and mono-substituted isopropylated triaryl phosphate (mono-ITP). All four PFRs and their urinary metabolites were ubiquitously detected. Correlations between TDCIPP and TCIPP and their corresponding urinary metabolites were highly significant on the wristbands (rs= 0.5-0.65, p<0.001), which suggest that wristbands can serve as strong predictors of cumulative, five-day exposure and may be an improved metric compared to hand wipes.

Characterization of Individual Isopropylated and tert-Butylated Triarylphosphate (ITP and TBPP) Isomers in Several Commercial Flame Retardant Mixtures and House Dust Standard Reference Material SRM 2585

“…9,20–22 A recent epidemiological study found a significant association between the urinary metabolite of ITPs and decreases in successful pregnancy outcomes. 23 Identification of the predominant ITP and TBPP isomers in commonly used commercial flame retardant mixtures will aid in hazard characterization and the ongoing, prioritized risk assessment of these compounds by the U.S. EPA.…”

Personal samplers of bioavailable pesticides integrated with a hair follicle assay of DNA damage to assess environmental exposures and their associated risks in children

“…As mixed-media samplers, the calculation of environmental concentrations is difficult, but wristbands can be used to evaluate relative exposures over the time worn [34, 45, 46]. Recent work showed concentrations of organophosphate flame retardants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in wristbands correlated with urinary metabolites of those compounds [47], which support a link between the ambient personal environment sampled by the wristbands and the internal environment.…”

“…The major limitation of our sampling method is that external rather than internal exposures to pesticides are measured. Although studies show correlation between wristband sampling and urine detections [47], there is a growing interest to integrate exposure detections with toxicology bioassays, as implemented here with DNA damage measures.…”

Associations between flame retardant applications in furniture foam, house dust levels, and residents' serum levels

“…Like TDCIPP, exposure to TCIPP is also widespread. The hydroxylated metabolite of TCIPP has been ubiquitously detected in humans in several recent studies (Hammel et al, 2016; Van den Eede et al, 2015, 2013). Components of FM550 have been associated with endocrine and metabolic disruption in exposed rodents, and they have been shown to bind and activate nuclear receptors that regulate adipogenic pathways in in vitro models (Belcher et al, 2014; Fang et al, 2014; Patisaul et al, 2013; Pillai et al, 2014).…”