Levels and profile of several classes of organic contaminants in matched indoor dust and serum samples from occupational settings of Pakistan

Ali, Nadeem; Mehdi, Toufeer; Malik, Riffat N.; Eqani, Syed A.M.A.S.; Kamal, Atif; Dirtu, Alin C.; Neels, Hugo; Covaci, Adrian

Levels and profile of several classes of organic contaminants in matched indoor dust and serum samples from occupational settings of Pakistan

2014

Dust ingestion is an important route of human exposure to organic contaminants, especially for flame retardants (FRs) in occupational settings. Several classes of organic contaminants were analyzed in matched dust and serum samples from academics and workers in electronics and clothing stores of Faisalabad, Pakistan. The concentrations of contaminants varied in dust as follow: organophosphate FRs (∑PFRs) > novel brominated FRs (∑NBFRs) > polybrominated diphenyl ethers (∑PBDEs) > organochlorine pesticides (∑OCPs) > polychlorinated biphenyls (∑PCBs), while, in serum, concentration varied: ∑OCPs > bromophenols (∑BPs) > ∑PCBs > ∑HO-PCBs ≈ ∑PBDEs. Two NBFRs, namely 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)-ethane (BTBPE) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) tetrabromophthalate (TBPH), were detected in <10% of the serum samples. p,p′-DDE was the major contaminant in serum contributing to ∼75% of the total contaminant burden. Levels of Penta-BDE congeners in serum and dust were significantly correlated (r = 0.64, p < 0.01) for the academics, suggesting dust ingestion as an important determinant for their serum levels.

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