title: Occurrence of organophosphorus flame retardants in indoor dust in multiple microenvironments of southern China and implications for human exposure.
abstract: Organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) are important alternatives to brominated flame retardants (BFRs), but information on their contamination of the environment in China is rare. We examined the occurrence of 12 OPFRs in indoor dust in four microenvironments of southern China, including a rural electronic waste (e-waste) recycling area, a rural non-e-waste area, urban homes, and urban college dormitory rooms. The OPFR concentrations (with a median of 25.0 μg g(-1)) were highest in the e-waste area, and the concentrations in other three areas were lower and comparable (7.48-11.0 μg g(-1)). The levels of OPFRs in the present study were generally relatively lower than the levels of OPFRs found in Europe, Canada, and Japan because BFRs are still widely used as the major FRs in China. The composition profile of OPFRs in the e-waste area was dominated by tricresyl phosphate (TCP) (accounting for 40.7%, on average), while tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) was the most abundant OPFR (64.4%) in the urban areas (homes and college dormitories). These two distribution patterns represent two OPFR sources (i.e., emissions from past e-waste and from current household products and building materials). The difference in the OPFR profiles in the rural area relative to the OPFR profiles in the urban and e-waste areas suggests that the occurrence of OPFRs is due mainly to emissions from characteristic household products in rural homes. Although human exposures to all the OPFRs were under the reference doses, the health risk for residents in the e-waste area is a concern, considering the poor sanitary conditions in this area and exposure from other sources.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Chun-Tao
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Center for Environmental Health Research, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Guangzhou 510655, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Resources Utilization and Protection, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: chenshejun@gig.ac.cn.
authors.forename: She-Jun
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Jun-Zhi
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Gang
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China. Electronic address: adsyzy@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhong-Yi
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Resources Utilization and Protection, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Bi-Xian
authors.initials: BX
authors.lastname: Mai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D002681:China; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D059029:Electronic Waste; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis*; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D059027:Recycling
chemical_list: D004391:Dust; D005411:Flame Retardants; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds
keywords: E-waste; Human exposure; Indoor dust; Organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs); Urban