The Lipid Content of Serum Affects the Extraction Efficiencies of Highly Lipophilic Flame Retardants

This work investigates the recoveries from human serum of eight halogenated flame retardants of emerging concern: hexabromobenzene, hexachlorocyclopentenyl-dibromocyclooctane, 1,2-bis­(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)­ethane, Dechlorane 602, Dechlorane 603, Dechlorane Plus, decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209), and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE). Extraction efficiencies were assessed using solid phase extraction (Oasis HLB) at two spiking levels with recoveries ranging from 18 to 84% [relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 4–25% (<i>n</i> = 8)]. Recoveries for DBDPE, BDE-209, and Dechlorane Plus averaged 24% (RSD of 18%), 38% (RSD of 20%), and 49% (RSD of 12%), respectively. These low recoveries were negatively associated with the lipid content of the serum, and Pearson correlations ranged from −0.798 to −0.839 (<i>p</i> < 0.002). This fact indicates that interactions between highly lipophilic flame retardants and lipids affect the extraction efficiencies. Therefore, even with thoroughly optimized SPE procedures, studies conducted without a proper internal standard (similar recovery) might result in erroneous calculated concentrations of the highly lipophilic halogenated flame retardants in serum

Occurrence of a Broad Range of Legacy and Emerging Flame Retardants in Indoor Environments in Norway

This study investigates the occurrence of 37 organohalogen and organophosphate flame retardants (FRs) from Norwegian households (<i>n</i> = 48) and classrooms from two primary schools (<i>n</i> = 6). Around 80% of the targeted FRs were detected in air and dust from the sampling sites. The comparison of settled dust with floor dust revealed no statistical differences between median concentrations of the FRs (<i>n</i> = 12). Decabromodiphenyl ether and tris­(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate showed the highest median floor dust concentrations in both environments. In the air samples, the highest concentrations were observed for 2,2′,4,4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether and tris­(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate. Remarkably, the emerging FR, 4-(1,2-dibromoethyl)-1,2-dibromocyclohexane, abbreviated as TBECH or DBE-DBCH, showed the highest indoor air concentrations reported in the literature (households, 77.9 pg/m³ and schools, 46.6 pg/m³). Good Spearman correlations between the FR concentrations in dust and air (0.36 < <i>R </i>< 0.76) showed that is possible to estimate the concentrations in air from analyzed dust, or vice versa. Sources and pathways of exposure to FRs were assessed for the households. The main findings were that frequent vacuum cleaning resulted in lower FR concentrations in dust and that dermal contact with dust, for both children and mothers, was as important for the intake of organophosphate FRs as dust ingestion