Monitoring the levels of brominated and organophosphate flame retardants in passenger cars:Utilisation of car air filters as active samplers

摘要

Filters in residential and office air conditioning(A/C)systems have been used as sampling devices for monitoring different pollutants.However,cabin air filters(CAFs)in the A/C system of passenger cars have not been utilised for this purpose.In this study,we collected22 used CAFs from passenger cars in Hanoi,Vietnam to analyse for 8 polybrominated diphenyl ethers(PBDEs)and 10 organophosphate esters(OPEs).All the analytes were detected in more than 50%of samples with the exception of BDE153 and BDE154.The average concentrations of∑10OPEs and∑8 BDEs in the captured dust were 2600 and 40 ng/g,respectively with Tris(1-chloro-2-propyl)phosphate(TCIPP)and BDE209 as the dominant congener in OPE and BDE groups,respectively.CAFs are a potential tool to qualitatively assess the levels of semi-volatile chemicals in suspended dust in cars as a screening step for exposure assessment of those chemicals.