PM06 Emerging Pollutants
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Monday
(PM045) Extensive study of PBDEs and PCBs in indoor air and dust, comparison to outdoor levels.
Wilford, B1, 2, Harner, T1, Zhu, J3, Shoeib, M1, Jones, K2, 1 Environment Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada2 Lancaster University, Lancaster, Lancashire, United Kingdom3 Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
ABSTRACT- The polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used as flame retardants in plastics of soft furnishings, TV sets and computers, and insulation in the indoor environment. The penta-BDEs - now banned in most parts of Europe, but still used in North America - are additive flame retardants which may be released to the indoor environment via volatilisation (gas-phase) or as particulates (e.g. dusts). In this study to investigate general population exposure to PBDEs, air was sampled in 74 randomly selected homes in Ottawa, Canada and at 7 outdoor sites during the winter of 2002-3, using polyurethane foam (PUF) disk passive air samplers. The passive sampling rate (2.5 m3 d-1) was determined through a pilot study deploying active and passive samplers side-by-side at selected indoor locations. Indoor air concentrations of 
PBDEs were log-normally distributed with a geometric mean of 120 pg m-3 and a median of 100 pg m-3, approximately fifty times higher than the range of urban outdoor air concentrations (< 0.1 - 4.4 pg m-3). The data are used to assess the potential significance of human PBDE exposure by the inhalation pathway. Samples were also analysed for PCBs, and results are presented. Dust samples were also collected from the domestic vacuum cleaners of these same homes, and correlated with air concentrations of PBDEs and PCBs. Dust-air partition coefficients were calculated and compared to predicted KOA values in order to assess whether the dust and air fractions were in equilibrium within homes.
Key words: PCBs, PBDEs, indoor air, dust