Brominated, chlorinated and phosphate organic contaminants in house dust from Portugal

House dust is an important matrix to evaluate the human exposure to a large number of contaminants including organochlorine compounds and flame retardants. In this study, we measured the levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs), 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy) ethane (BTBPE), decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and several organophosphorus flames retardants (PFRs) in 28 house dust samples collected between 2010 and 2011 in two Portuguese cities, Aveiro and Coimbra. Among the measured compounds, PFRs, particularly tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP), triphenyl phosphate (TPHP), 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPP) and tris(methylphenyl) phosphate (TMPP), were the dominant group (median: 3200ngg(-1)). PBDE levels were the second highest (median: 340ngg(-1)) with great predominance of BDE 209 (median 270ngg(-1)), followed by HBCDDs (median: 150ngg(-1)), DBDPE (54ngg(-1)), PCBs (median: 6.3ngg(-1)) and BTBPE (median: 1.2ngg(-1)). Estimated daily intakes (EDIs) via dust ingestion showed a higher intake of PFRs (median: 4.6ngkg-bw(-1)day); however for all contaminants the EDIs were much lower than the established reference dose (RfD) values. Therefore, the studied population is exposed to non-hazardous levels of the target compounds when considering the exposure through house dust ingestion.