title: Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in indoor and outdoor air in a community in Guangzhou, a megacity of southern China.
abstract: Indoor environments contribute a significant portion of human exposure to brominated flame retardants (BFRs) because of their extensive use in various household products. This study investigates the occurrence of a number of BFRs in the indoor and outdoor air in a megacity in southern China, in which little information on indoor BFRs contamination is available. The estimated total PBDE concentrations ranged from 1.43 to 57 pg/m(3) indoors and from 1.21 to 1522 pg/m(3) outdoors. The indoor concentrations of lower brominated PBDEs that are mainly derived from the technical penta- and octa-BDE mixtures were higher than or comparable to the outdoors, while the indoor levels of DecaBDEs and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) were apparently lower than the outdoors. The seasonal variations of BFR concentrations indicated that evaporation from old indoor products is the primary source of Penta- and OctaBDEs in the air, whereas most DecaBDEs and DBDPE concentrations showing weak temperature-dependence are largely released from industrial activities. The PBDE congener profiles in the air were generally similar, which were dominated by BDE209, 28, and 47; whereas the appreciable indoor-outdoor differences in the compositions are possibly due to emission sources, photochemical degradation, or congener-specific transport of BFRs in the indoor and outdoor air. Significant correlations between the indoor and outdoor BFRs were observed suggesting the exchange of BFRs between the two compartments, which are more noticeable for PentaBDEs and DecaBDEs with strong indoor and outdoor emission sources, respectively. This study provides significant insights into the sources of BFRs in urban air in China.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, 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: College of Chemical Engineering, Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology, Maoming, 525000, China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Cheng
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment of CAS, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China.
authors.forename: Mi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
authors.forename: Bi-Xian
authors.initials: BX
authors.lastname: Mai
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor; D001969:Bromobenzenes / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis*; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D001969:Bromobenzenes; D005411:Flame Retardants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; C491509:decabromodiphenyl ethane
keywords: Brominated flame retardants (BFRs); Indoor and outdoor air; Seasonal variation; Source; Southern China