Characterising human exposure to organophosphate ester flame retardants

Brommer, Sandra (2014). Characterising human exposure to organophosphate ester flame retardants. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Concentrations of selected PFRs were determined in indoor dust from cars, couches, living rooms, offices, and school classrooms in Australia, Canada, Germany, Kazakhstan, and the UK. Significant differences were found between concentrations of PFRs in dust from different microenvironment categories in the same country. Assessment of human exposure via dust ingestion, revealed the majority of exposure to most PFRs occurs in the domestic environment. However, exposure to TDCIPP occurs primarily in cars, and a substantial proportion of the exposure of young children to EHDPP occurs in classrooms. Reassuringly, the exposure estimates in this study are at least 2 orders of magnitude below health based limit values reported in the literature. However, improved characterisation of exposure to TCIPP via inhalation is identified as a research priority. To address the substantial uncertainty in existing values reported for PFR vapour pressures, they were determined experimentally via the GC-RT method. For most target PFRs, results showed good overall agreement with the mean of experimental and \(in\) \(silico\) literature values. However, values for the chlorinated PFRs exceeded the average of literature values.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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