title: Identifying transfer mechanisms and sources of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE 209) in indoor environments using environmental forensic microscopy.
abstract: Although the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in house dust has been linked to consumer products, the mechanism of transfer remains poorly understood. We conjecture that volatilized PBDEs will be associated with dust particles containing organic matter and will be homogeneously distributed in house dust. In contrast, PBDEs arising from weathering or abrasion of polymers should remain bound to particles of the original polymer matrix and will be heterogeneously distributed within the dust. We used scanning electron microscopy and othertools of environmental forensic microscopy to investigate PBDEs in dust, examining U.S. and U.K. dust samples with extremely high levels of BDE 209 (260-2600 microg/g), a nonvolatile compound at room temperature. We found that the bromine in these samples was concentrated in widely scattered, highly contaminated particles. In the house dust samples from Boston (U.S.), bromine was associated with a polymer/organic matrix. These results suggest that the BDE 209 was transferred to dust via physical processes such as abrasion or weathering. In conjunction with more traditional tools of environmental chemistry, such as gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), environmental forensic microscopy provides novel insights into the origins of BDE 209 in dust and their mechanisms of transfer from products.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA. twebster@bu.edu
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harrad
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Millette
authors.forename: R David
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Holbrook
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Heather M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Stapleton
authors.forename: Joseph G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: McClean
authors.forename: Catalina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ibarra
authors.forename: Mohamed Abou-Elwafa
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Abdallah
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Covaci
mesh_terms: D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D001336:Automobiles; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D004777:Environment; D044707:Forensic Sciences / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis*; D008404:Massachusetts; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D004391:Dust; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; C010902:decabromobiphenyl ether