Occurrence of aryl and alkyl-aryl phosphates in Canadian house dust

Abstract

This study investigated the occurrence of 19 aryl phosphates and mixed alkyl-aryl phosphates in dust samples (n = 144) collected under the Canadian House Dust Study (CHDS). The predominant target analytes, detected in 100 % of the samples, were isodecyl diphenyl phosphate (IDDPP), cresyl diphenyl phosphate (CDPP), and isopropylated triaryl phosphates (ITPs), with median concentrations of 1225 (248–17850) ng/g, 91 (14–57700) ng/g, and 805 (203–152000) ng/g, respectively. ITPs included isopropylphenyl diphenyl phosphate (IPPDPP), bis(isopropylphenyl) phenyl phosphate (BIPPPP), and tris(isopropylphenyl) phosphate (TIPPP). Strong correlations were found among IPPDPP, BIPPPP, and TIPPP, suggesting that there might be various consumer and building products containing mixtures of these substances. Bisphenol A bis(diphenyl phosphate) (BPA-DP) and resorcinol bis(diphenyl phosphate) (RBDP) were detected in 69 % and 78 % of samples, with relatively low median concentrations of 30 (max: 818) ng/g and 14 (max: 307) ng/g, respectively. Since the usage of OPEs as flame retardants has increased over the past decade, the current levels of OPEs in Canadian house dust could be higher than those reported in this study, where the samples were collected in 2007–2010. Further monitoring of OPEs in various environmental and biological matrices is recommended.