Abstract—Organophosphorus flame retardants (PFRs) are a
group of compounds frequently detected in indoor dust that
pose high health risks to exposure subjects. The present study
reports on the investigation of the levels and profiles of seven
target PFRs in car dust samples from Thailand. The samples
were collected from the discarded air conditioning (AC) filter
of 14 private cars (called AC dust samples) and from the bag
filter installed in vacuum cleaners of 10 car washing services
(called settled dust samples) in 2019. The concentrations of
7PFRs in AC dust samples were approximately 3,800-91,000
ng/g, whereas those from settled dust samples were about
11,000 to 15,000 ng/g. Tris (2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBEP)
was found to be the most prominent of PFRs detected in both
types of car dust with the highest concentration of 39,000 ng/g
for AC filter dust and 10,000 ng/g for settled dust. The main
PFR contributors in both dust types were TBEP (80%, 75%),
followed by Tris (2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP) (9%, 5%)
and tris(1-chloro-2-propyl)phosphate (TCPP) (7%, 4%),
respectively. Tris(2-chloroethyl)phosphate (TCEP) and tri
cresyl phosphate (TCP) were not detected in both types of car
dust and tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCPP) was
found only in settled dust samples. According to the results of
exposure assessment to PFRs in car dust, the human exposures
via ingestion for adults and toddlers ranged from 1.69×10-2 to
2.67 and 10.6 to 2,360 ng/kg/day. The human exposures via
inhalation for adults and toddlers ranged from 3.27×10-4 to
5.17x10-2 and 2.58×10-1 to 40.9 ng/kg/day. The highest exposure
among PFRs corresponded to TBEP for both adults and
toddlers and the risk through ingestion was higher than
inhalation intake. Toddlers were more exposed to PFR
contaminants in comparison to adults. When comparing the
estimated average daily intake (ADI) values with the reference
doses (RfDs) for PFRs, it was found that exposure to PFRs in
car cabins via inhalation and dust ingestion is unlikely to have
adverse human health effects.
Index Terms—Organophosphorus flame retardants (PFRs),
indoor dust, car dust, human exposure.
K. Premrudee is with the National Metal and Materials Technology Center,
Thialand (e-mail: premrudk@mtec.or.th).
N. Benjawan and O.Sun are with Sirindhon International Institute of
Technology, Thaialand (e-mail: benjawan.nilyok@gmail.com, and
suno@siit.tu.ac.th).
S. Supachai is with the National Metal and Materials Technology Center,
Thialand (e-mail: supachais@mtec.or.th).
[PDF]
Cite: Premrudee Kanchanapiya, Benjawan Nilyok, Supachai Songngam, and Sun Olapiriyakul, "Organophosphate Flame Retardants in Car Dust from Thailand and Implications for Human Exposure," International Journal of Chemical Engineering
and Applications vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 1-6, 2021.
