Transfer of Chlorinated Organophosphate Esters from Furniture Fabric to Indoor Dust via Direct Contact

Chlorinated organophosphate esters (Cl-OPEs)—specifically tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP), and tris(1,3-dichloroisopropyl) phosphate (TDCIPP—are added to the foam fillings of furniture in some countries to meet fire safety regulations. Recent reports of the capacity of Cl-OPEs to elicit adverse effects on the health of humans and wildlife have focused attention on their potential emission from furniture and consequent human exposure. Given studies demonstrating substantial human exposure via the ingestion of house dust, and that direct source: dust contact is a highly effective mechanism via which brominated flame retardants are emitted from source materials into dust; this study examines the transfer of TCEP, TCIPP, and TDCIPP from furniture fabric into dust in direct contact with the fabric. To do so, we exposed indoor dust to a furniture fabric covering in a sealed stainless steel emission chamber held at room temperature and recorded Cl-OPE concentrations in both dust and fabric at 0, 1, 2, 4, 7, and 10 days. Consistent with the intentional application of TCIPP to the furniture foam that our test fabric was used to cover, the concentration of TCIPP in the fabric exceeded that of TCEP and TDCIPP by ~2 orders of magnitude. Results show a significant decline (p < 0.05) in concentrations of TCIPP in the fabric from 44.6 ± 2.84 mg/g at day 1 to 22.7 ± 6.0 mg/g at day 10. This contrasted to a significant (p < 0.05) increase in concentrations of TCIPP in dust from 86.4 ± 23.2 µg/g at day 1 to 195 ± 10.8 µg/g at day 10. Combined, these data strongly suggest that direct dust:fabric contact is an important pathway via which Cl-OPEs contaminate indoor dust.