Human Dietary Exposure to
PBDEs Around E‑Waste
Recycling Sites in Eastern China
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Abstract
Analysis
of 10 types of locally produced staple foods (including
meat, fish, and eggs), provided estimates of dietary intakes of polybrominated
diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) for residents of areas of Taizhou City (Zhejiang
Province, Eastern China), which are long-established centers of rudimentary
“e-waste” recycling. Average ∑PBDE concentrations
in chicken meat, eggs, and liver and duck meat and liver were among
the highest recorded to date, with BDE-209 particularly abundant.
The highest estimated contributions to ∑PBDE intake under a
median exposure scenario were associated with adult consumption of
duck eggs (3882 ng/day) and chicken eggs (1091 ng/day), and with consumption
of fish by both adults (792 ng/day) and children (634 ng/day). Including
estimates for ingestion of contaminated dust reported elsewhere increased
median ∑PBDE daily intakes by approximately 19% for adults
and 42% for children. Normalized to body weight, estimated median
∑PBDE exposures (from food and dust combined) were 130.9 ng/kg
bw/day for adults and 614.1 ng/kg bw/day for children. High-end estimates
of exposure for young children exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency reference doses for BDE-47 and BDE-99 by factors of approximately
2.5 and 1.5, respectively