Abstract
In this study, we measured the occurrence of organophosphate esters (OPEs) and phthalates in the settled dust (floor and air conditioner filter dust) and in suspended particulate matter (PM10) from different microenvironments (households (n = 20), offices (n = 10) and hotels (n = 10)) of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Bis (2-Ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) was the major pollutant (contributing >85% of total chemicals burden) in all types of indoor dust with a concentration up to 3,901,500 ng g−1. While dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and DEHP together contributed >70% in PM10 (1900 ng m−3), which indicate PM10 as a significant source of exposure for DBP and DEHP in different Saudi indoor settings. Tris (1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP) was the major OPE in PM10 with a concentration of up to 185 ng m−3 and the occurrence of OPEs in indoor dust varied in studied indoor settings. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of studied chemicals via dust ingestion and inhalation of PM10 was below the reference dose (RfD) of individual chemicals. However, estimated incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) with moderate risk (1.5 × 10−5) for Saudi adults and calculated hazardous index (HI) of >1 for Saudi children from DEHP showed a cause of concern to the local public health.
Highlights
Introduction published maps and institutional affilOrganophosphate esters (OPEs) and phthalates are used in various consumer products to add elasticity and retard the onset of unwanted fire to minimize fire hazards [1,2,3].These chemicals are added in many consumer products to fulfill the safety regulations, e.g., building materials, including thermal insulation boards, electrical and electronic equipment, furniture foams, children’s toys, fabrics and printed circuit boards [4,5,6,7]
Among various types of indoor microenvironments, PM10 samples collected from kitchen showed the highest organophosphate esters (OPEs) concentrations, followed by those from household living rooms, hotel rooms
Levels of ∑OPEs were significantly (p < 0.05) lower in the PM10 collected from university offices than those of other studied indoor microenvironments
Summary
Analytical standards of phthalates namely bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BzBP), bis(2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP) and OPEs namely tris (1,3-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP), tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCPP) and triphenyl phosphate (TPhP) were purchased from AccuStandards and Sigma Aldrich. Corresponding deuterated (d4-labelled) phthalates were used as internal standards (ISs) for phthalates while TCEP-d12 was used for OPEs. All stock solutions for the analytical standards were prepared in iso-octane and toluene. Dichloromethane (DCM), n-hexane (n-Hex) and iso-octane were of analytical grade obtained from Sigma Aldrich
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