Comparisons of indoor active and passive air sampling methods for emerging and legacy halogenated flame retardants in Beijing, China offices

Seth Newton, Ulla Sellström, Stuart Harrad, Gang Yu, Cynthia A. de Wit*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)
144 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

One active and two passive air sampling configurations were deployed simultaneously in three offices in Beijing, China to test their comparability for sampling emerging and legacy halogenated flame retardants spanning a large range of octanol–air partition coefficients (KOA). Sampling in each office was carried out for three consecutive 28-day periods in the spring-summer of 2013. The active sampler was run for 2.5 h at different times every day for 28 days to parallel the passive samplers and sample a total volume comparable to that sampled by the passive samplers (∼20 m3). At the end of each 28-day sampling period, a separate active air sample was taken by running the sampler pump continuously for about 2.5 days. The comparability of measured concentrations varied between the air sampling configurations and for different compounds. The predominant compound measured in nearly all samples was BDE-209, a compound known to have heavy use in China. Several emerging flame retardants were also detected including DBE-DBCH, PBT, HBB, DDC-CO, and DBDPE. Very little of the tetra-hexabrominated BDEs associated with the technical PentaBDE product was observed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)80-88
Number of pages9
JournalEmerging Contaminants
Volume2
Issue number2
Early online date15 Mar 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2016

Keywords

  • Active air sampling
  • BFR
  • Emerging flame retardants
  • Flame retardants
  • Indoor air
  • Passive air sampling

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Toxicology

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