Rauert C, Harrad S, Stranger M, Lazarov B
School of Geography Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Environmental Risk and Health Unit, VITO, Mol, Belgium.
Indoor Air. 2015 Aug;25(4):393-404. doi: 10.1111/ina.12151. Epub 2014 Sep 17.
Numerous studies have reported elevated concentrations of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in dust from indoor micro-environments. Limited information is available, however, on the pathways via which BFRs in source materials transfer to indoor dust. The most likely hypothesized pathways are (a) volatilization from the source with subsequent partitioning to dust, (b) abrasion of the treated product, transferring microscopic fibers or particles to the dust (c) direct uptake to dust via contact between source and dust. This study reports the development and application of an in-house test chamber for investigating BFR volatilization from source materials and subsequent partitioning to dust. The performance of the chamber was evaluated against that of a commercially available chamber, and inherent issues with such chambers were investigated, such as loss due to sorption of BFRs to chamber surfaces (so-called sink effects). The partitioning of polybrominated diphenyl ethers to dust, post-volatilization from an artificial source was demonstrated, while analysis in the test chamber of a fabric curtain treated with the hexabromocyclododecane formulation, resulted in dust concentrations exceeding substantially those detected in the dust pre-experiment. These results provide the first experimental evidence of BFR volatilization followed by deposition to dust.
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are ubiquitous in indoor air and dust, leading to human exposure and resultant concerns about their adverse impact on health. Indoor dust has been demonstrated to constitute an important vector of human exposure to BFRs, especially for toddlers. Despite the greater importance of dust contamination in the context of human exposure to BFRs, the mechanisms via which BFRs transfer from source materials to dust have hitherto been subject to only limited research. In this study, a test chamber is utilized to simulate the migration of BFRs to dust via volatilization from source materials and subsequent deposition to dust.
众多研究报告称，室内微环境灰尘中溴化阻燃剂（BFRs）的浓度升高。然而，关于源材料中的BFRs转移至室内灰尘的途径，现有信息有限。最有可能的假设途径为：（a）从源材料挥发，随后分配至灰尘；（b）处理过的产品磨损，将微观纤维或颗粒转移至灰尘；（c）源材料与灰尘接触直接吸附至灰尘。本研究报告了一种用于研究源材料中BFRs挥发及随后分配至灰尘的内部测试舱的开发与应用。将该测试舱的性能与市售测试舱进行了评估对比，并研究了此类测试舱存在的固有问题，如BFRs吸附至测试舱表面导致的损失（即所谓的汇效应）。证明了多溴二苯醚从人工源挥发后分配至灰尘的情况，而对用六溴环十二烷配方处理的织物窗帘在测试舱中的分析结果显示，灰尘浓度大幅超过实验前灰尘中检测到的浓度。这些结果首次提供了BFRs挥发后沉积至灰尘的实验证据。
溴化阻燃剂（BFRs）在室内空气和灰尘中普遍存在，导致人体接触，并引发了对其对健康产生不利影响的担忧。室内灰尘已被证明是人类接触BFRs的重要媒介，尤其是对幼儿而言。尽管在人类接触BFRs的背景下，灰尘污染更为重要，但迄今为止，BFRs从源材料转移至灰尘的机制仅受到有限的研究。在本研究中，利用一个测试舱来模拟BFRs从源材料挥发并随后沉积至灰尘的迁移过程。
