Concentrations and Congener Distributions of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) in Indoor House Dust Samples

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Research article

Journal of the Korean Society for Environmental Analysis 2015;18(2):112-120.

실내 바닥먼지 중 폴리브롬화디페닐에테르(PBDEs)의 잔류수준 및 이성질체 분포특성

박상아¹, 와타나베 이사오², 이원석¹, 이두희¹, 민병윤³, 혼다 카츠히사²

¹국립환경과학원
²에히메대학교
³경남대학교

Abstract

We investigated the concentrations, congener distributions, and characteristics of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in house dust samples collected from general houses of an industrial area in Korea. The mean concentration of ΣPBDEs in indoor dust samples from 20 houses was 1900 ng/g, while deca-BDE (BDE-#209) was the predominant congener accounting for 85% of ΣPBDEs. The concentration of PBDEs increased with the presence of electrical/electronic products in the indoor environment, except for the dust samples collected from the inside of TV. The congener distribution patterns were similar in nearly all samples. However, BDE- #99, BDE-#100 and BDE-#47, which belonged to Σlower-BDEs (38%), were dominant in the samples from the inside of TV, displaying a slightly different distribution from the other indoor environment conditions. Meanwhile, there was no relationship between the particle size of house dust and the PBDE concentration. The distribution patterns of congeners were also similar to those prior to re-classification (>150 μm). In this study, we concluded that the electrical/electronic products were an important factor for the concentration of PBDEs in the indoor environment, and deca-BDE was a major contaminant. Therefore, analytical methods for deca- BDE should be established for further regulatory monitoring of PBDEs from electrical/electronic products.

Key Words: PBDEs, deca-BDE, Indoor environment, House dust, Industrial area