Sources, Emissions & Exposure: Flame Retardants & Other SVOCs
Author:
Tom Webster
Date Published:
6/2011
Description:
PBDEs are persistent and bioaccumulative, suggesting exposure via diet, particularly animal products. Given their use in consumer products, it is very likely that the indoor environment also causes exposure. We found associations between PBDE concentrations in people and i) consumption of dairy products and meat, ii) house dust sampled from participant’s homes (Wu et al 2005, 2007). The latter finding--in first time mothers from the Greater Boston area--is particularly important because of the very large uncertainty in adult exposure to dust. It supports the hypothesis that exposure to PBDEs in dust is an important route of exposure. The correlation between concentrations of PBDEs in people and in dust cannot, by itself, distinguish between direct exposure to dust (via incidental ingestion or dermal exposure) and inhalation, if the concentrations in air and dust are correlated. Exposure estimates by ourselves (Webster et al 2005) and others suggest that ingestion/dermal exposure to dust is more important than inhalation of indoor air. However, most such calculations rely on indoor air measurements made in rooms using passive air monitors, a method that should underestimate personal exposure. We therefore carried out a second study comparing personal air measurements with room air measurements, using active air pumps (Allen et al., 2007). We found higher concentrations of PBDEs in 'personal air' (sampled near the breathing zone) than in rooms, particularly for decaBDE which is bound to particulate. Sources, Emissions & Exposure: Flame Retardants & Other SVOCs originally available at http://epa.gov/ncct/expocast/files/SVOC/03_Webster_Sources_Emissions_Exposure.pdf, last accessed July 16, 2015.
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