title: Levels of non-polybrominated diphenyl ether brominated flame retardants in residential house dust samples and fire station dust samples in California.
abstract: Eleven novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) were analyzed in dust samples from California homes as a part of the Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study (NCCLS) and from the living quarters of California fire stations as a part of the Firefighter Occupational Exposure (FOX) study using high resolution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The eleven NBFRs were α- and β-1,2-dibromo-4-(1,2-dibromoethyl)cyclohexane (α- and β-DBE-DBCH), 2-bromoallyl 2,3,6-tribromophenylether (BATE), pentabromotoluene (PBT), pentabromoethylbenzene (PBEB), 2,3-dibromopropyl 2,4,6-tribromophenyl ether (TBP-DBPE), hexabromobenzene (HBB), 2-ethylhexyl-2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate (EH-TBB), 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy) ethane (BTBPE), bis(2-ethylhexyl) tetrabromophthalate (BEH-TEBP), and decabromodiphenylethane (DBDPE). Six of the seven NBFRs that are produced in relatively small quantities (i.e., α-, β-DBE-DBCH, BATE, PBEB, PBT, TBP-DBPE) were measured close to or below the limit of quantitation (0.64 ng/g) in both the NCCLS and FOX samples, and the seventh, HBB, was measured at median concentrations of 1.85 ng/g and 9.40 ng/g in the NCCLS and FOX samples, respectively. The remaining four NBFRs, EH-TBB, BEH-TEBP, BTBPE, and DBDPE, are produced in higher quantities, and were detected at median concentrations of 337 ng/g, 186 ng/g, 22.3 ng/g, and 82.8 ng/g, respectively in the NCCLS samples, and at median concentrations of 2687 ng/g, 2076 ng/g, 28.4 ng/g, and 161 ng/g, respectively, in the FOX samples. Concentrations of NBFRs in the NCCLS and FOX dust samples were several times lower than concentrations of PBDEs previously measured in the same samples. Concentrations of NBFRs in the NCCLS and FOX dust samples were generally comparable to concentrations of NBFRs in other studies of house dust from the US and Canada.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Toxic Substances Control, 700 Heinz Avenue Suite 100, Berkeley, CA 94710, USA. Electronic address: reber.brown@dtsc.ca.gov.
authors.forename: F Reber
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Todd P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.affiliation: Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Toxic Substances Control, 700 Heinz Avenue Suite 100, Berkeley, CA 94710, USA.
authors.forename: June-Soo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Metayer
authors.affiliation: Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Toxic Substances Control, 700 Heinz Avenue Suite 100, Berkeley, CA 94710, USA.
authors.forename: Myrto X
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Petreas
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D061388:Firefighters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004391:Dust; D005411:Flame Retardants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers
keywords: Environmental exposure; Fire station dust; Human exposure; Novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs); Residential house dust