Concentrations and seasonal variations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in in- and out-house dust and human daily intake via dust ingestion corrected with bioaccessibility of PBDEs

The objective of this study was to investigate the concentrations, seasonal variations, bioaccessibility, and associated human daily intake of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in in- and out-house dust collected in Shanghai, China. The PBDE concentrations varied from 131.6 to 3,886.7 ng g−1 (with an average of 948.2 ng g−1) in in-house dust and from 8.7 to 3,116.3 ng g−1 (with an average of 290.8 ng g−1) in out-house dust during four seasons. The PBDE concentrations in the autumn were the lowest for both in- and out-house dust. Among the detected PBDEs, BDE209 was the predominant congener, accounting for more than 80% of the total PBDE amounts. The bioaccessibility of PBDEs, measured using a simulation system of human gastrointestinal tract, was determined as 14.2–66.4% depending on individual PBDE congeners and showed significant negative correlations with organic matter in dust. After corrected with the bioaccessibility of PBDEs, the human daily intake of PBDEs via dust ingestion was calculated to be 0.4–21.4 and 4.3–40.6 ng day−1 for an average adult and child in Shanghai, respectively. The values were much lower than most estimates in the literature, in which the bioaccessibility of PBDEs were not taken into account, suggesting that the intake of PBDEs may have been overestimated.

Research Highlights
► Seasonal variations of PBDE concentrations in in-/out-house dust were observed.
► The lowest PBDE concentrations in in-/out-house dust were found in the autumn.
► PBDE bioaccessibility/concentrations significantly correlated with organic matter.
► PBDE daily intake corrected with bioaccessibility was lower than most estimates.