PBDEs in household air and dust: Characterization of microenvironments

Please consider this abstract for the Environment Section's Student Achievement Award.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a class of fire retardants commonly used in consumer products. It is not known if PBDE concentrations vary within the home or how concentrations depend on the method of collection. Three household air and dust samples were simultaneously collected from each of 20 participant's residences. Laboratory analysis of the samples was done by GC/MS-ECNI. Penta- and deca-product BDEs in dust were twice as high in the main living area compared to the bedroom (p=0.01). The highest recorded value of total PBDEs in household dust, 269,300 ng/g, was found in one participant's vacuum bag. Another brominated flame retardant, bistribromophenoxyethane (BTBPE), was also detected in 87% of the dust samples.

For penta- and deca-product BDEs, the bedroom and main living area dust were moderately correlated (r = 0.45, p=0.047; r = .55, p=0.012, respectively). Similar findings were observed in air samples. The lack of stronger correlations between the two rooms suggests that microenvironments are playing an important role in the distribution of PBDEs in household dust. There was a moderate correlation between air and dust samples for the penta-product BDEs in the bedroom (r = 0.62, p=0.01), and no association found for deca-product BDEs. These results demonstrate the importance of examining microenvironments when conducting exposure assessments in locations with a heterogeneous distribution of sources.