Brominated Flame Retardants in Children’s Room: Concentration, Composition, and Health Risk Assessment

Douha Bannan, Nadeem Ali, Nabil A. Alhakamy, Mohamed A. Alfaleh, Waleed S. Alharbi, Muhammad Imtiaz Rashid, Nisreen Rajeh and Govindan Malarvannan
Additional contact information
Douha Bannan: Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Practice, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Nadeem Ali: Center of Excellence in Environmental Studies, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Nabil A. Alhakamy: Pharmaceutics Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Mohamed A. Alfaleh: Natural Products and Alternative Medicine Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Waleed S. Alharbi: Pharmaceutics Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Muhammad Imtiaz Rashid: Center of Excellence in Environmental Studies, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Nisreen Rajeh: Department of Anatomy, Medical College, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Govindan Malarvannan: Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: Children spend most of their daily time indoors. Many of the items used indoors, such as furniture, electronics, textile, and children toys, are treated with chemicals to provide longevity and fulfil the safety standards. However, many chemicals added to these products are released into the environment during leaching out from the treated products. Many studies have reported brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in indoor environments; however, few have focused on environments specified for young children. In this study, paired air (PM 10 ) and dust samples were collected from the rooms ( n = 30) of Saudi children. These samples were analyzed for different congeners of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and three important alternative flame retardants using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE 209) was the most important analyzed BFR in dust and PM 10 samples with a median value of 3150 ng/g of dust and 75 pg/m 3 . This indicates the wider application of BDE 209 has implications for its occurrence, although its use has been regulated for specified uses since 2014. Among alternative BFRs, 2-Ethylhexyl-2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate (TBB), Bis(2-ethylhexyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrabromophthalate (TBPH), and 1,2-Bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE) were found with a median levels of 10, 15 and 8 ng/g of dust, respectively. However, alternative BFRs were present in <50% of the PM 10 samples. The calculated long term and daily exposures via indoor dust and PM 10 of Saudi children from their rooms were well below the respective reference dose (RfD) values. Nonetheless, the study highlights BDE 209 at higher levels than previously reported from household dust in Saudi Arabia. The study warrants further extensive research to estimate the different classes of chemical exposure to children from their rooms.

Keywords: brominated flame retardants; indoor dust; PM 10; children exposure; Saudi Arabia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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