Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in indoor dusts from university dormitories and printing shops in Xinxiang, China

Abstract Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were investigated in indoor dusts from university dormitories and printing shops in Xinxiang, China. The mean concentrations of ∑13PBDEs were 105 ± 64.2 ng/g dry weight (dw), 31.7 ± 26.4 ng/g dw and 695 ± 379 ng/g dw in dusts from male dormitory, female dormitory and printing shop, respectively. Notably, significantly higher PBDE concentrations were found in printing shop than in university dormitory. BDE-153 (84.5 ± 165 ng/g dw), BDE-190 (76.1 ± 179 ng/g dw) and BDE-138 (24.2 ± 29.7 ng/g dw) displayed the highest levels in the 29 indoor dust samples. BDE-138, -153, -190 and -71 showed higher proportion in indoor dusts from university dormitories and printing shops. More debromination process of PBDEs occurred in dust from university dormitory, whereas PBDEs in printing shop were more likely to come directly from external electronic devices. Significantly positive correlations were revealed between the PBDE levels and the quantity of electronic equipment in dust, indicating that electronic devices had significant influence on PBDE contamination in indoor environment. Generally, PBDE concentrations in the present study were lower than the levels in indoor dusts from other studies worldwide. The estimated daily intake values of ∑13PBDEs displayed printing shop (80.4 ng/kg body weight (bw)/day) > male dormitory (11.3 ng/kg bw/day) > female dormitory (3.97 ng/kg bw/day), which were generally higher than other researches, but well below the EPA reference doses.