Exposure of Canadian electronic waste dismantlers to flame retardants

Exposure of e-waste workers to eight halogenated and five organophosphate ester flame retardant chemicals (FRs) was studied at a Canadian e-waste dismantling facility. FR concentrations were measured in air and dust samples collected at a central location and at four work benches over five-24 hour p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environment international 2019-08, Vol.129, p.95-104
Main Authors: Nguyen, Linh V., Diamond, Miriam L., Venier, Marta, Stubbings, William A., Romanak, Kevin, Bajard, Lola, Melymuk, Lisa, Jantunen, Liisa M., Arrandale, Victoria H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dermal absorption
Dust ingestion
E-waste workers
Flame retardants (FRs)
Inhalation exposure
Occupational exposure
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Summary:Exposure of e-waste workers to eight halogenated and five organophosphate ester flame retardant chemicals (FRs) was studied at a Canadian e-waste dismantling facility. FR concentrations were measured in air and dust samples collected at a central location and at four work benches over five-24 hour periods spanning two weeks. The highest concentrations in air from workbenches were of BDE-209 (median 156 ng m−3), followed by Tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP, median 59 ng m−3). Dust concentrations at the workbenches were higher than those measured at the central location, consistent with the release of contaminated dust during dismantling. Dust concentrations from the workbenches were also dominated by BDE-209 (median 96,300 ng g−1), followed by Triphenyl phosphate (TPhP, median 47,000 ng g−1). Most FRs were in coarse particles 5.6–18 μm diameter and ~30% were in respirable particles (
ISSN:0160-4120
1873-6750
DOI:10.1016/j.envint.2019.04.056