Preliminary Assessment of U.K. Human Dietary and Inhalation Exposure to Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers

Abstract

This study reports concentrations of BDEs 47, 99, 100, 153, and 154 in outdoor air [median sigmaPBDE (sum of BDEs 47, 99, 100, 153, and 154) = 18 pg m(-3)] in air from a range of office and home indoor microenvironments (median sigmaPBDE = 762 pg m(-3)) and vegan and omnivorous duplicate diet samples (median sigmaPBDE = 154 and 181 pg g(-1) dryweightforvegan and omnivorous diets, respectively). Median daily human exposure to sigmaPBDE via inhalation is 6.9 ng/person and 90.5 ng/person via diet but the relative significance of these pathways may vary considerably between individuals. Median concentrations in indoor air were higher in workplace (sigmaPBDE = 1082 pg m(-3)) than in domestic (sigmaPBDE = 128 pg m(-3)) microenvironments, and substantial differences in concentrations in air from different rooms in the same office building were found. When data from the only mechanically ventilated room was excluded, a significant positive correlation (p < 0.001) was observed between PBDE concentrations and both the number of electrical appliances and polyurethane foam-containing chairs. Concentrations of sigmaPBDE and BDEs 47 and 99 were significantly higher (p < 0.1) in omnivorous diet samples than in vegan diet samples, implying that while plant-based foods contribute appreciably, higher exposure occurs via ingestion of animal-based comestibles.

Brominated flame retardants in US food

“…Figure 3 is a box plot showing the distribution of total PBDEs in these food categories. These values were higher than reported from some other countries including Japan, Spain and the UK [20,21,22] but not orders of magnitude higher as was the case for human milk. Figure 4 shows that the amount of PBDEs can decrease with cooking [23], here when the food was broiled and the fat dripped away.…”

PBDE exposure from food in Ireland: optimising data exploitation in probabilistic exposure modelling

“…To put the Irish dose estimates into perspective, they are compared with doses presented in other studies (Table 5) (Bocio et al, 2003;Harrad et al, 2004;Gomara et al, 2006;UKFSA, 2006b;Voorspoels et al, 2007;Akutsu et al, 2008a;Bakker et al, 2008;Sioen et al, 2008;Schecter et al, 2010). We also present external doses (i.e., before uptake into the body) to make our estimates better comparable with other studies (for detailed results see Supplementary Table S11 and Table S12).…”

Dehalogenation of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers using a hybrid bioinorganic catalyst

“…Hence, in all subsequent analyses, the mass spectrometer was operated in SIM mode, targeting the starting compound and its lower halogenated analogues. Monitored m/z values for these analyses were as reported previously, 9,22 with the addition of 154.10 for biphenyl.…”

“…8 By comparison, the 2001 global demand for the penta-product was 7500 t, 8 down slightly from 8500 t in 1999. 9 Production and use of commercial PBDE formulations in Europe was considerably less than in North America: for example, in 2001, 7100 t of pentaproduct were used in North America, compared with just 150 t in Europe. 8 The uses for these commercial formulations are myriad: the penta-product was employed principally to flame retard polyurethane foams in carpet underlay, vehicle interiors, furniture and bedding; the octa-formulation was used to flame retard thermoplastics such as high impact polystyrene; and the deca-product is used principally in plastic housings for electrical goods like TVs and computers, as well as textiles.…”