title: Investigating a novel flame retardant known as V6: measurements in baby products, house dust, and car dust.
abstract: With the phase-out of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants, the use of new and alternate flame retardants has been increasing. 2,2-bis(chloromethyl)propane-1,3-diyltetrakis(2-chloroethyl) bisphosphate, known as V6, is a flame retardant applied to polyurethane foam commonly found in furniture and automobile foam. However, to the authors' knowledge, no research has been conducted on V6 levels in the environment. The intention of this study was to measure the concentration of V6 in foam collected from baby products where it was recently detected and measure levels in dust samples collected from homes and automobiles in the Boston, MA area. To accomplish this, a pure V6 commercial standard was purchased from a Chinese manufacturer and purified (>98%). An analytical method to measure V6 in dust samples using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS-MS) was developed. Extraction was conducted using accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and extracts were purified using an ENVI-Florisil SPE column (500 mg, 3 mL). V6 was measured in foam samples collected from baby products with a concentration ranging from 24,500,000 to 59,500,000 ng/g of foam (n = 12, average ± sd: 46,500,000 ± 12,000,000 ng/g; i.e., on average, 4.6% of the foam mass was V6). V6 was also detected in 19 of 20 car dust samples and 14 of 20 house dust samples analyzed. The concentration of V6 in the house dust ranged from <5 ng/g to 1110 ng/g with a median of 12.5 ng/g, and <5 ng/g to 6160 ng/g in the car dust with a median of 103.0 ng/g. Concentrations in car dust were significantly higher than in the house dust potentially indicating higher use of V6 in automobiles compared to products found in the home. Furthermore, tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), a known carcinogen, was found in the V6 commercial mixture (14% by weight) as an impurity and was consistently detected with V6 in the foam samples analyzed. A significant correlation was also observed between V6 and TCEP in the dust samples suggesting that the use of V6 is a significant source of TCEP in the indoor environment.
authors.affiliation: Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Mingliang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gooden
authors.forename: Ellen M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: McClean
authors.forename: Courtney
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carignan
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Makey
authors.forename: Heather M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Stapleton
mesh_terms: D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis*; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D004391:Dust; D005411:Flame Retardants
references.citation: Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Jul;120(7):1049-54
references.pmid: 22763040
references.citation: Environ Sci Technol. 2010 Jul 15;44(14):5627-32
references.pmid: 20521814
references.citation: Toxicol Sci. 2011 Dec;124(2):339-47
references.pmid: 21565810
references.citation: J Med Toxicol. 2010 Dec;6(4):448-58
references.pmid: 20717764
references.citation: Environ Health Perspect. 2006 Aug;114(8):1179-85
references.pmid: 16882522
references.citation: Environ Sci Technol. 2012 Dec 18;46(24):13432-9
references.pmid: 23186002
references.citation: Environ Sci Technol. 2004 Feb 15;38(4):945-56
references.pmid: 14998004
references.citation: Environ Sci Technol. 2008 Sep 15;42(18):6910-6
references.pmid: 18853808
references.citation: Environ Health Perspect. 2010 May;118(5):712-9
references.pmid: 20056561
references.citation: Environ Int. 2008 Nov;34(8):1085-91
references.pmid: 18456330
references.citation: Environ Sci Technol. 2009 Oct 1;43(19):7490-5
references.pmid: 19848166
references.citation: Environ Int. 2011 Feb;37(2):532-56
references.pmid: 21168217
references.citation: Environ Sci Technol. 2011 Jun 15;45(12):5323-31
references.pmid: 21591615
references.citation: Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Apr;118(4):572-8
references.pmid: 20368126
references.citation: Environ Sci Technol. 2012 Jan 17;46(2):1192-200
references.pmid: 22142368
references.citation: Environ Sci Technol. 2012 Dec 18;46(24):13056-66
references.pmid: 23185960
references.citation: Environ Sci Technol. 2006 Aug 1;40(15):4633-8
references.pmid: 16913117
references.citation: Talanta. 2012 Jan 30;89:292-300
references.pmid: 22284495
references.citation: Environ Int. 2011 Jul;37(5):899-906
references.pmid: 21458859
references.citation: Chemosphere. 2012 Aug;88(10):1119-53
references.pmid: 22537891
references.citation: Environ Int. 2013 May;55:56-61
references.pmid: 23523854
references.citation: Toxicol Sci. 2011 Aug;122(2):265-74
references.pmid: 21546348