Transfer of brominated flame retardants from components into dust inside television cabinets

Abstract

Television (TV) set components are highly flame resistant, with their added brominated compounds such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). These compounds might be released indoors via dust, which presents a potential exposure pathway for humans in the home environment. In this study, we collected dust from inside TV sets and TV set component samples (parts of housing front cabinets, rear cabinets and circuit boards) of five sets used in Japan. We measured BFRs (i.e., PBDEs, tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs)) and polybrominated dibenzo- p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (PBDD/DFs). Analytical results of the TV components showed that the concentrations of PBDEs, TBBPA and PBDFs (48,000 μg/g, 19,000 μg/g and 9600 ng/g as mean values, respectively) were all highest in the rear cabinets. The ΣPBDD concentrations (460 ng/g as a mean value) detected were highest in the circuit board samples. The respective ΣPBDE and ΣPBDF concentrations in the dust samples were 67–500 μg/g (mean 300 μg/g) and 180–650 ng/g (mean 410 ng/g). Such concentrations were 2–3 orders of magnitude higher than those previously reported for house dust samples, which suggests that the brominated compounds are transferred from TV components into dust. Comparison of congener patterns of the brominated compounds in the dust identified the components as the source of these BFRs.