Flame Retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers, PBDEs) and Organophoshates, OPFRs) In Dust from Canadian Fire Stations

Dust is a good medium to assess indoor exposures to many persistent organics, including flame retardants. With concerns regarding persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity of many flame retardants, a series of bans and regulations have created shifts in their usage. For firefighters, exposures to flame retardants on and off duty is a high concern. In 2018 we measured flame retardants in Canadian fire station dust and compared our findings with those of our 2015 US fire stations study. We used isotope dilution HRMS for PBDEs and GC-MS/MS for OPFRs. The same flame retardants were present in all stations with high within- and between-station variability. The most prominent among PBDEs was BDE-209, followed by BDE-99. TDCIPP and TPhP were the dominant OPFRs. Overall, data from 2015 (US) and 2018 (Canada) show that OPFRs have surpassed PBDEs in fire station dust, probably reflecting shifts in flame retardant use in consumer products and building materials.