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(285) Brominated flame retardants in office dusts from a number of European countries. Santillo, David1, Johnston, Paul1, 1 ABSTRACT- Evidence for the widespread environmental distribution of brominated fire retardants, even in relatively remote marine and terrestrial systems, is growing rapidly. Residues of several of these polybrominated chemicals have also been detected in the indoor air of offices and computer rooms, as well as in the blood of computer operators and recyclers, probably as a result of direct contact with electronic equipment in which such substances have been incorporated. Contact with consumer products and dusts in the office and home is increasingly widely recognised as an important route of human exposure to various hazardous substances. Nevertheless, information on levels of brominated flame retardants and other persistent organic chemicals in the indoor environment remains very limited. The current study reports levels of brominated flame retardants (PBBs, PBDEs, HBCD and TBBP-A) in the fine particle fraction of office dusts collected from prominent buildings in a number of European countries. Brominated diphenyl ethers (especially deca-BDE, or BDE-209) were identified in all dust samples analysed, in some cases at very significant (ppm) levels. Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) was also present in the majority of samples, again at substantial concentrations. The significance of these results will be discussed in relation both to the potential for widespread exposure to chemicals in the indoor environment and, more generally, to the ubiquitous presence of persistent organic chemicals in products and their consequent release to the environment. Key words: brominated flame retardants, dust, indoor environment, exposure |
