Legacy and emerging organophosphorus flame retardants and plasticizers in indoor microenvironments from Guangzhou, South China

Bin Tang; Christina Christia; Govindan Malarvannan; Yin-E Liu; Xiao-Jun Luo; Adrian Covaci; Bi-Xian Mai; Giulia Poma

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.105972

Legacy and emerging organophosphorus flame retardants and plasticizers in indoor microenvironments from Guangzhou, South China

Environ Int. 2020 Oct:143:105972. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105972. Epub 2020 Jul 21.

Authors

Bin Tang¹, Christina Christia², Govindan Malarvannan², Yin-E Liu³, Xiao-Jun Luo⁴, Adrian Covaci⁵, Bi-Xian Mai⁶, Giulia Poma²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Resources Utilization and Protection, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510640 Guangzhou, PR China; Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk-Antwerp, Belgium; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Health Risk Assessment, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou 510655, PR China.
² Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk-Antwerp, Belgium.
³ State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Resources Utilization and Protection, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510640 Guangzhou, PR China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Resources Utilization and Protection, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510640 Guangzhou, PR China; Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Environmental Pollution and Control, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, PR China. Electronic address: luoxiaoj@gig.ac.cn.
⁵ Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk-Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: adrian.covaci@uantwerpen.be.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Resources Utilization and Protection, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510640 Guangzhou, PR China; Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Environmental Pollution and Control, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, PR China.

PMID: 32707272
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105972

Abstract

Indoor dust has been extensively used for assessment of indoor contamination, especially for semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). In the present study, the occurrence of four groups of SVOCs, i.e. organophosphorus flame retardants (PFRs), emerging PFRs (ePFRs), legacy phthalates (LPs), and alternative plasticizers (APs), was investigated in the indoor dust and air collected from floors, table surfaces, windows, and air conditioner (A/C) filters in bedrooms and offices in Guangzhou, South China. In bedrooms, A/C filter dust showed the highest median concentrations of PFRs (4670 ng/g) and ePFRs (586 ng/g), whilst the highest median concentrations of LPs and APs were found in floor (240,880 ng/g) and window dust (157,160 ng/g), respectively. In offices, A/C filter dust showed the highest median concentrations for PFRs (6750 ng/g) and APs (504,520 ng/g), while the highest ePFR median level was found in PC table dust (5810 ng/g) and LPs in floor dust (296,270 ng/g). Median air concentrations of PFRs, ePFRs, LPs, and APs were measured at 4.6, 0.12, 399, and 25 ng/m³ in bedrooms, and at 8.0, 0.05, 332, and 43 ng/m³ in offices, respectively. Tris(1-chloro-iso-propyl) phosphate (TCIPP) was the predominant PFRs/ePFRs in both dust and air. Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), di-iso-decyl phthalate (DIDP) and di-iso-nonyl phthalate (DINP) were the main LP/AP compounds in dust, whilst di-iso-butyl phthalate (DIBP) and di-n-butyl phthalate (DNBP) were the most abundant LPs/APs in air. A significant correlation (p < 0.05) was found between dust and air levels for chemicals with log K_oa < 14, indicating that equilibrium was achieved for these chemicals but not for those with log K_oa > 14. Among the investigated human exposure pathways (i.e. dust ingestion, dermal absorption, and air inhalation), dust ingestion was the predominant one for all chemicals. Human exposures of this magnitude to these chemicals through the investigated pathways was unlikely to present a health risk in the present study.

Keywords: Alternative plasticizers (APs); Human exposure; Indoor dust; Organophosphorus flame retardants (PFRs); Passive air sampling (PAS); Phthalates.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Air Pollution, Indoor* / analysis
China
Dust / analysis
Environmental Exposure
Flame Retardants* / analysis
Humans
Organophosphorus Compounds / analysis
Plasticizers / analysis

Substances

Dust
Flame Retardants
Organophosphorus Compounds
Plasticizers