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

Kristin Larsson1, Cynthia A de Wit2, Ulla Sellström2

  • 1Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet , Box 210, 171 77 Stockholm , Sweden.

Environmental Science & Technology
|March 24, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Children

Area of Science:

  • Environmental Health
  • Toxicology
  • Pediatric Exposure Science

Background:

  • Preschool environments can expose children to hazardous chemicals in indoor dust.
  • Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and organophosphate esters (OPEs) are common in indoor dust.
  • Assessing children's exposure to these chemicals is crucial for understanding potential health risks.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess children's exposure to BFRs and OPEs via preschool dust.
  • To identify predictors of chemical presence in dust.
  • To investigate correlations between different exposure measurements (dust, hand wipes, urine).

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of BFRs and OPEs in 100 preschool dust samples.
  • Analysis of BFRs and OPEs in 100 children's hand wipe samples.
  • Analysis of diphenyl phosphate (DPHP) metabolite in 113 children's urine samples.

Main Results:

  • Decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) were the most abundant BFRs in dust.
  • Tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP) was the most abundant OPE.
  • Significant correlations were found between dust and hand wipe levels for OPEs and some BFRs, and between TPHP in dust and DPHP in urine.

Conclusions:

  • Children's estimated intakes of BFRs and OPEs from preschool dust were below health-based reference values.
  • Chemical levels in dust varied based on preschool age (e.g., pentaBDEs in older, DBDPE in newer facilities).
  • Further research is needed on the health effects of emerging BFRs and OPEs.

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