Brominated Flame Retardants and Organophosphate Esters in Preschool Dust and Children’s Hand Wipes

Abstract

Children spend a considerable part of their day in preschool, where they may be exposed to hazardous chemicals in indoor dust. In this study, brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and organophosphate esters (OPEs) were analyzed in preschool dust ( n = 100) and children's hand wipe samples ( n = 100), and diphenyl phosphate (DPHP) was analyzed in urine ( n = 113). Here we assessed children's exposure via dust, identified predictors for chemicals in dust, and studied correlations between different exposure measures. The most abundant BFRs in dust were decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) found at median levels of 270 and 110 ng/g dust, respectively. Tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP) was the most abundant OPE, found at a median level of 79 000 ng/g dust. For all OPEs and some BFRs, there were significant correlations between the levels in dust and hand wipes. In addition, triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) in preschool dust was significantly correlated with the corresponding metabolite DPHP in children's urine. The levels of pentaBDEs in dust were higher in older preschools compared with newer, whereas levels of DBDPE were higher in newer preschools. Children's estimated intakes of individual BFRs and OPEs via preschool dust were below available health-based reference values. However, there are uncertainties about the potential health effects of some emerging BFRs and OPEs.

Temporal trends of decabromodiphenyl ether and emerging brominated flame retardants in dust, air and window surfaces of newly built low‐energy preschools

“…The dust concentrations found in the preschools were lower compared to most other recent studies on BFRs in different indoor settings (Table 2). 18,19,22,23,[45][46][47] This could be due to the diverse indoor settings among the different studies, as well as the different age of the inves- The DFs and concentrations of BFRs in the indoor air in our study were low, as previously discussed (Table 1). However, αDBE-DBCH and βDBE-DBCH were frequently detected in LEP C with a maximum concentration of 8400 pg/m 3 and 18 000 pg/m 3 , respectively.…”

“…In similarity to the legacy BFRs, some of the emerging and novel BFRs might also be persistent, bioaccumulative and have the ability to undergo long range transport. 8,13,18,22,23,[25][26][27] Some studies have investigated the indoor air quality (IAQ) and indoor air pollutants in low-energy buildings and indicated that chemical emissions might be higher compared to conventional buildings due to the construction design and choice of building materials in low-energy buildings. 5,8,16,17,23,24 In 2008, Stapleton et al 25 was among the first to report the detection of emerging BFRs in household dust, and found significant levels of DBDPE ranging between <10.0 and 11 070 ng/g.…”

“…5,[9][10][11][12][13] Some examples of BFRs are polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) and tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA). [18][19][20] The usage volume of BDE-209 and DecaBDE technical mixture reached 1000-10 000 tonnes within EU in 2017, 21 and its technical mixture is added to polymeric materials [18][19][20] The usage volume of BDE-209 and DecaBDE technical mixture reached 1000-10 000 tonnes within EU in 2017, 21 and its technical mixture is added to polymeric materials …”

“…Furthermore, studies have shown that most BFRs emitted in the indoor environment will most likely end up in indoor dust due to their high hydrophobicity and low volatility, 5,16,24 and dust ingestion could be a major exposure pathway for human intake of these pollutants. 8,13,18,22,23,[25][26][27] Some studies have investigated the indoor air quality (IAQ) and indoor air pollutants in low-energy buildings and indicated that chemical emissions might be higher compared to conventional buildings due to the construction design and choice of building materials in low-energy buildings. [28][29][30][31] However, investigations on the occurrence and distribution of semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in low-energy buildings are very scarce.…”

Organophosphorus Flame Retardants: A Global Review of Indoor Contamination and Human Exposure in Europe and Epidemiological Evidence

“…A total of 12 studies that reported concentrations of OPFRs or their metabolites (presented in Table S1 with their parent compounds) in more than ten human samples were identified and reviewed [15,21,35,[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57]. Metabolites were measured in urine, whereas OPFR parents' compounds were measured in hair and milk.…”