Environmental occurrence, analysis and human exposure to the flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBP-A)-A review.
TBBP-A is a high production volume chemical applied widely as a flame retardant in printed circuit boards. Recent studies have raised concern over potential harmful implications of TBBP-A exposure in human and wildlife, leading to its classification under group 2A "Probably carcinogenic to humans" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. This article provides a comprehensive review of the available literature on TBBP-A analysis, environmental levels and human exposure. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has been identified as the method of choice for robust, accurate and sensitive analysis of TBBP-A in different matrices. TBBP-A has been detected in almost all environmental compartments all over the world, rendering it a ubiquitous contaminant. Human exposure studies revealed dust ingestion and diet as the major pathways of TBBP-A exposure in the general population. Toddlers are likely to be more exposed than adults via accidental indoor dust ingestion. Moreover, exposure to TBBP-A may occur prenatally and via breast milk. There are no current restrictions on the production of TBBP-A in the EU or worldwide. However, more research is required to characterise human exposure to TBBP-A in and around production facilities, as well as in e-waste recycling regions.
Division of Environmental Health and Risk Management, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom; Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Assiut University, 71526 Assiut, Egypt. Electronic address: mae_abdallah@yahoo.co.uk.
Mohamed
M
Abou-Elwafa Abdallah
D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis*; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005411:Flame Retardants; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls; C020806:tetrabromobisphenol A
Analytical methods; Environmental occurrence; Human exposure; Regulatory aspects; TBBP-A