Flame retardants and their metabolites in the homes and urine of pregnant women residing in California (the CHAMACOS cohort)

Abstract

Organophosphate flame retardants (PFRs), used in consumer products since the 1970s, persist in the environment. Restrictions on penta-polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants resulted in increased use of Firemaster® 550 (FM® 550), and the organophosphate triesters: tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP); tris(chloropropyl) phosphate (TCIPP); tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP); and triphenyl phosphate (TPHP). The objectives of this study were to (1) identify determinants of flame retardants (4 PFRs, PentaBDEs and FM® 550) in house dust, (2) measure urinary PFR metabolites in pregnant women, and (3) estimate health risks from PFR exposure. We measured flame retardants in house dust (n=125) and metabolites in urine (n=310) collected in 2000–2001 from Mexican American women participating in the CHAMACOS birth cohort study in California. We detected FM® 550 and PFRs, including two (TCEP and TDCIPP) known to the state of California to cause cancer, in most dust samples. The maximum TCEP and TDCIPP dust levels were among the highest ever reported although the median levels were generally lower compared to other U.S. cohorts. Metabolites of TDCIPP (BDCIPP: bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate) and TPHP (DPHP:diphenyl phosphate) were detected in 78% and 79% of prenatal urine samples, respectively. We found a weak but positive correlation between TPHP in dust and DPHP in 124 paired prenatal urine samples (Spearman rho=0.17; p=0.06). These results provide information on PFR exposure and risk in pregnant women from the early 2000’s and are also valuable to assess trends in exposure and risk given changing fire safety regulations and concomitant changes in chemical flame retardant use.

Recent biomonitoring reports on phosphate ester flame retardants: a short review

“…Meeker et al, 2010(Meeker et al, 2007) USA 50 men from couples who were infertile due to a male factor, a female factor, or both (Subset of a parent study: Meeker et al, 2007) Dust collected at the homes of men who participated in the parent study in [2002][2003][2004][2005][2006][2007]. (Castorina et al, 2017b) In utero exposure and neurodevelopmental outcome (associations analyzed: total PEFR metabolites, TDCIPP, TPHP, ip-PPP) Association between DPHP and total PEFR metabolites levels, and decreased cognitive function (full scale IQ and working memory).…”

“…Other PEFRs metabolites were more rarely analyzed. Tert-butyl phenyl phenyl phosphate (tb-PPP) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (BEHP) were detected infrequently (Su et al, 2015;Butt et al, 2016;Castorina et al, 2017b;Hoffman et al, 2017a;Soubri et al, 2017;Carignan et al, 2018a and b;Deziel et al, 2018;He et al, 2018a;Hoffman et al, 2018;Ingle et al, 2018;Sun et al, 2018). Dibenzyl phosphate (DBzP) was not detected in urine samples collected in the U.S.A. (Romano et al, 2017;Jayatilaka et al, 2017;Ospina et al, 2018).…”

“…No consistent and/or uniform correlation could be established between urinary levels of some PEFR metabolites (mainly diesters) and the concentrations of the corresponding parent compounds in hand wipes or in indoor dust samples from various microenvironments (Carignan et al, 2013;Meeker et al, 2013b;Dodson et al, 2014;Fromme et al, 2014;Cequier et al, 2015;Hoffman et al, 2015b, Hammel et al, 2016Castorina et al, 2017b;Larsson et al, 2018;Phillips et al, 2018;Tao et al, 2018;Völkel et al, 2018). Associations were generally specific to the PEFR.…”

Developmental Exposure to the Flame Retardant Mixture Firemaster 550 Compromises Adult Bone Integrity in Male but not Female Rats

“…Work by us and others have identified this mixture to be developmentally neurotoxic, endocrine disrupting, and obesogenic [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Human exposure is nearly ubiquitous with both gestational and lactational transfer as significant exposure routes in addition to direct exposure via household dust, which is inadvertently ingested or inhaled [14][15][16][17]. Additionally, the individual components are present in other FR mixtures, and many other commonly used products.…”

Maternal urinary concentrations of organophosphate ester metabolites: associations with gestational weight gain, early life anthropometry, and infant eating behaviors among mothers-infant pairs in Rhode Island

“…OPEs are also used as plasticizers in common consumer products such as nail polish [13]. Human exposure to OPEs is understood to be ubiquitous and multiple studies have detected OPE metabolites in the urine of the majority of the general population in the United States [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] and around the world [23][24][25][26].…”