Factors impacting human exposure to legacy and emerging contaminants in residential dust in Beijing, China: Characteristics of indoor microenvironment

Mi Tian; Fan Gao; Yuan Zeng; Xiulan Zhang; Chuan Yang; Jiaxuan Guo; Yuyang Zhao; Shejun Chen

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142095

Factors impacting human exposure to legacy and emerging contaminants in residential dust in Beijing, China: Characteristics of indoor microenvironment

Chemosphere. 2024 Apr 23:358:142095. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142095. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Mi Tian¹, Fan Gao², Yuan Zeng³, Xiulan Zhang⁴, Chuan Yang⁵, Jiaxuan Guo⁵, Yuyang Zhao⁵, Shejun Chen⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400045, China.
² Key Laboratory for Northern Urban Agriculture of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, 102206, China. Electronic address: gaofan@bua.edu.cn.
³ School of Environment, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
⁴ National Research Center for Environmental Analysis and Measurement, Beijing, 100029, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory for Northern Urban Agriculture of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, 102206, China.
⁶ School of Environment, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China. Electronic address: shejun.chen@m.scnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38663681
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142095

Abstract

Exposure to indoor dust is of concern since dust may be contaminated by various toxic chemicals and people spend considerable time indoors. Factors impacting human exposure risks to contaminants in indoor dust may differ from those affecting the loadings of contaminants, but the dominant factors have not yet been well clarified. In this study, the occurrence, human exposure, and related influencing factors of several classes of legacy and emerging contaminants in residential dust across Beijing were investigated, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and three types of flame retardants (FRs), i.e., organophosphate esters (OPEs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and novel halogenated FRs (NHFRs). OPEs (median: 3847 ng/g) were the most abundant group, followed by PBDEs (1046 ng/g) and NHFRs (520 ng/g). PFASs (14.3 ng/g) were one to two orders of magnitude lower than FRs. The estimated daily intakes of these contaminants were relatively higher for toddlers than other age groups, with oral ingestion being the main exposure pathway compared with dermal contact. Higher human exposure risks were found in new buildings or newly finished homes due to the elevated intake of emerging contaminants (such as OPEs). Furthermore, higher risks were also found in homes with wooden floors, which were mainly associated with higher levels of PFASs, chloroalkyl and alkyl OPEs, compared with tile floors. Citizens in the urban area also showed higher exposure risks than those in the suburban area. The quantity of household appliances and finishing styles (simple or luxurious) showed an insignificant impact on overall human exposure risks despite their significant effect on the levels of some of the dust contaminants. Results in this study are of importance in understanding human exposure to the co-existence of multiple contaminants in indoor dust.

Keywords: Flame retardants; Human exposure; Impact factors; PFASs; Residential dust.