Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) contents in house and car dust of Portugal by pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS)

Dust is the repository of various compounds including flame retardants. In this study an analytical method based on PLE extraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was selected for the analysis of 16 PBDEs congeners in house and car dust samples collected in Portugal. The analytical performance of the method was validated using standard reference material (SRM); values from 90% to 109% and from 2% to 11% were obtained for recovery and precision, respectively. The PBDE congeners distribution in whole and sieved fractions of the dust samples, as well as influence of the source on the levels of these contaminants, were obtained. The wide range of PBDEs contents found in the dust samples indicates heterogeneous levels of contamination in these matrices. The clearest feature of the results obtained was that Deca-BDE was the main PBDE in both house and car dust samples. The total PBDEs measured in house dust (ranging from 34 to 1928 ng g−1) was lower than those found in car dust (ranging from 193 to 22 955 ng g−1). However, house dust provides a major contribution to human exposure due to the time spent there, much higher than in cars.