Comparison of indoor and outdoor atmospheric organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) from the petrochemical industrial area in North China: occurrence, gas-PM2.5 distribution, source appointment and health implications

Feijie Gong; Tianqi Zhang; Tong Zhao; Anan Qi; Peng Xu; Qi Huang; Yifang Li; Miao Wang; Yang Xiao; Lingxiao Yang; Yaqin Ji; Wenxing Wang

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2024.125529

Comparison of indoor and outdoor atmospheric organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) from the petrochemical industrial area in North China: occurrence, gas-PM_2.5 distribution, source appointment and health implications

Environ Pollut. 2024 Dec 12:125529. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.125529. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Feijie Gong¹, Tianqi Zhang¹, Tong Zhao², Anan Qi¹, Peng Xu¹, Qi Huang¹, Yifang Li¹, Miao Wang³, Yang Xiao³, Lingxiao Yang⁴, Yaqin Ji⁵, Wenxing Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China.
² Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China; Qingdao Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Qingdao 266003, China.
³ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China.
⁴ Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Climate Change, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, China. Electronic address: yanglingxiao@sdu.edu.cn.
⁵ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China. Electronic address: jiyaqin@nankai.edu.cn.

PMID: 39674254
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.125529

Abstract

The consumption of organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) has surged significantly recent years since global banning of brominated flame retardants (BFRs). Industrial activities are an important source of OPFRs, however there are few studies on OPFRs contamination in the indoor and outdoor atmosphere of industrial areas. A study was conducted to analyze contamination of 15 OPFRs individuals in both indoor and outdoor air and PM_2.5 of living and industrial sites of the petrochemical industrial area (outdoor and indoor sites of living area was LO and LI, outdoor and indoor sites of industrial area was LO and LI). The average concentrations of OPFRs in PM_2.5 of LO (16.40 ng/m³) and IO (17.83 ng/m³) were similar, while LI (60.46 ng/m³) was higher than that in II (33.43 ng/m³). The average concentrations of indoor OPFR in PM_2.5 and air in summer were 4.10 and 2.22 times higher than those in winter, respectively This seasonal concentration variation of OPFRs may attribute to the influence of temperature that accelerated the releasing of OPFRs from materials. Alkyl-OPFRs and Cl-OPFRs were the dominant OPFRs in air and PM_2.5, respectively. The indoor/outdoor (I/O) ratios of OPFRs and correlation of OPFRs with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) indicated that the indoor source (material emission) was the dominant contributors of indoor OPFRs in PM_2.5 and air, and outdoor sources (industrial and traffic sources) had significant contribution to OPFRs in indoor and outdoor air and outdoor PM_2.5. The gas-particle partitioning of OPFRs had not reached equilibrium state, and absorption mechanism dominated. The Harner-Bidleman (H-B) model has better fitting effect for OPFRs with logK_OA > 10. The health risk of OPFRs for both adult and child were neglectable. While considering the high contribution of TCEP to carcinogenic risk, and high contribution of TCPP to none-carcinogenic risk, their health risk should be given special attention.

Keywords: Gas-particle partitioning; Health risk; Indoor and outdoor environments; Industrial area; OPFRs.