| Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a class of toxic fire retardant compounds commonly used in household furniture and electronics. Human exposure to PBDEs primarily occurs in the indoor environment and levels in household dust have been linked to PBDE levels in breast milk. Further investigation of the home environment was necessary to improve our understanding of how PBDE sources contribute to personal exposure via both air and dust.; In our first paper, we reported the first personal air concentrations of PBDEs in a non-occupational setting, and the first air concentrations in the United States. Further, we reported on BDE 209, a congener not widely reported in air. Concentrations of PBDEs were higher in personal air than in area air, particularly for the less volatile compounds, consistent with a personal cloud effect. We found that inhalation exposure may account for up to 22% of BDE 209 exposure in adults, far higher than previously estimated. Our second paper evaluated factors critical to assessing exposure to PBDEs in house dust. Concentrations of PBDEs in dust did not exhibit temporal variability over an 8-month period suggesting that cross-sectional sampling may be representative of exposure. Researcher-collected dust was up to 3.3 times higher, on average, than dust from the home vacuum bag. Concentrations of PBDEs in dust were significantly higher in the main living area compared with the bedroom, indicating spatial heterogeneity within homes. PBDE concentrations in air and dust were correlated, but only for the pentaBDE congeners and not decaBDE. Lastly, two dust exposure metrics (ng/g and ng/m2) were strongly correlated, suggesting similar dust loadings across homes in our sample.; In our final paper, we used X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to quantify bromine in consumer products and then relate those measures to room-specific concentrations of PBDEs in dust. In the validation phase, we demonstrated that XRF is a reliable predictor of bromine in products compared with GC/MS. In the field study phase, we found associations between XRF-measured bromine content in furniture and pentaBDE concentrations in dust from the same room. We also found that XRF-measured bromine levels in televisions were associated with decaBDE concentrations in dust, with the number of residents acting as an effect modifier. |
