The occurrence of brominated flame retardants in the atmosphere of Gauteng Province, South Africa using polyurethane foam passive air samplers and assessment of human exposure

Polyurethane foam passive samplers were deployed between May 2016 and January 2017 to evaluate concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), selected alternative flame retardants (AFRs) and total hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) (sum of α-, β-, and γ-HBCDD). The PUF air samplers were deployed in semi–urban, urban, industrial and landfill sites in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The acquired results presented a clear semi urban–industrial–urban–landfill concentration gradient for all BFRs measured. Taking into account 2 sampling periods (cold and warm periods) (n = 16), the atmospheric concentrations of ∑₉PBDEs, HBCDDs and ∑AFRs were 100–2820 pg m⁻³, 12–117 pg m⁻³ and 41–4660 pg m⁻³, respectively, for the sparsely populated residential area, densely populated residential area, industrial area and the landfill area. In all cases, BDE 47, 99, and 209 were the most dominant congeners with high detection frequencies. The highest calculated daily exposure dose in Gauteng Province atmosphere was 0.61 and 1.54 ng kg ⁻¹ – bw d ⁻¹ for adults and children respectively. The estimated total intake of PBDEs was 0.47–33.4 ng kg ⁻¹ – bw d ⁻¹, which was generally below the lowest adverse effect limit (LOAEL), suggesting that the residents of Gauteng Province may not be significantly affected as a result of their exposure to these pollutants through inhalation. However, this does not necessarily suggest that the pollutants are harmless to human health, since they have the tendency to bioaccumulate in biological systems. Incidentally, this is the first study from Africa to report on the atmospheric concentrations of PBDEs, HBCDDs and AFRs in urban, landfill and industrial areas. The findings from this study further highlight the contributory role of landfills as potential sources of BFRs into the atmosphere.