Passive Samplers for the Assessment of Occupational Exposure to Flame Retardants among Canadian E-Waste Dismantlers

Abstract

The mass of e-waste produced globally is growing dramatically. One hazard, especially for e-waste handlers, are flame retardants (FRs) which are added to electronic and electrical equipment in order to meet flammability standards. FR air concentrations can be measured using active air sampling equipment, but this sampling train can be cumbersome for workers. Passive samplers made from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) or silicone rubber, are one option for simplifying the measurement process. Here, we compared PDMS passive air samplers (PDMS-PASs) with active air samplers for the assessment of FR air levels at an e-waste dismantling facility in Ontario, Canada for the purpose of estimating occupational exposure.Sampling was conducted daily over a five days in February 2017. PDMS-PASs were hung at 4 workbenches and a central workplace, and were co-deployed with an active low-volume air sampler which consisted of a GFF followed by a PUF/XAD/PUF sandwich. Each PDMS and low-volume sampler was harvested after 24 hours. Samples were extracted and analysed for 13 FRs, including novel brominated flame retardants (NFRs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and organophosphate esters (OPEs), using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS).The most abundant FRs were the now-banned PBDEs (BDE-209 accounted for ~70-98 % of FRs collected by PDMS-PASs). Total median concentrations of PBDEs in PDMS-PASs at the central workplace and workbenches were 1930 and 2900 ng/m3, respectively. PDMS-PASs provided comparable estimates of air concentrations to active samplers. The chemical profiles from the PDMS matched those from active sampling, indicating that differences in compound gas-particle partitioning did not affect the sampling efficiency of PDMS.Levels of FRs in air collected from this Canadian e-waste recycling facility suggest PDMS-PASs can be used to estimate occupational exposure to FRs, even for short deployment times at workplaces with elevated levels of these chemicals.