Environ. Sci. Technol. 2008, 42, 6910–6916
Alternate and New Brominated Flame Retardants Detected in U.S. House Dust H E A T H E R M . S T A P L E T O N , * ,† J O S E P H G . A L L E N , ‡,§ SHANNON M. KELLY,† ALEX KONSTANTINOV,| SUSAN KLOSTERHAUS,⊥ DEBORAH WATKINS,‡ MICHAEL D. MCCLEAN,‡ AND THOMAS F. WEBSTER‡ Nicholas School of the Environment & Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, Environmental Health & Engineering, Inc., Needham, Massachusetts, Wellington Laboratories Inc., Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and San Francisco Estuary Institute, Oakland, California
Received April 17, 2008. Revised manuscript received June 11, 2008. Accepted June 12, 2008.
Due to the voluntary withdrawals and/or bans on the use of two polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) commercial mixtures, an increasing number of alternate flame retardant chemicals are being introduced in commercial applications. To determine if these alternate BFRs are present in indoor environments, we analyzed dust samples collected from 19 homes in the greater Boston, MA area during 2006. Using pure and commercial standards we quantified the following brominated flame retardant chemicals using GC/ECNI-MS methods: hexabromocyclododecane (ΣHBCD), bis(2,4,6,-tribromphenoxy)ethane (BTBPE), decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE), and the brominated components found in Firemaster 550 (FM 550): 2-ethylhexyl 2,3,4,5tetrabromobenzoate(TBB)and(2-ethylhexyl)tetrabromophthalate (TBPH), the latter compound being a brominated analogue of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP). The concentrations of all compounds were log-normally distributed and the largest range in concentrations was observed for HBCD (sum of all isomers), with concentrations ranging from
