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SHORT RESEARCH AND DISCUSSION ARTICLE

Evaluating the use of synchrotron X-ray spectroscopy in investigating brominated flame retardants in indoor dust Peter Blanchard 1 & Nicole Babichuk 2 & Atanu Sarkar 3 Received: 27 March 2020 / Accepted: 24 August 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020

Abstract Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are commonly used in consumer products and they shed off these products and eventually build up in household dust. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), in particular, are known endocrine-disrupting chemicals affecting various hormone syntheses. Portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) is the most common non-destructive method in identifying BFRs in environmental samples. However, the method is insensitive to bromine speciation. Synchrotron-based XRF has been shown to have very low detection limits (< 1 μg/g) that is suitable for detecting BFRs and can be combined with X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) to identify the bromine species present in the household dust. Twenty indoor dust samples were collected from rural homes in Newfoundland (Canada) to assess the use of synchrotron-based techniques to identify BFRs. Synchrotron-based XRF analysis identified bromine in all the samples, with concentrations ranging from 2–19 μg/g. XANES analysis identified organic-based bromine species in several samples that are likely BFRs based on the spectral line shape. The accuracy of using XANES to identify BFRs is highly dependent on the source and size of the dust samples. Therefore, for future research, it is important to take into account the sources of dust sample and to focus on fine dust particles. Keywords Brominated flame retardants . Polybrominated diphenyl ethers . Synchrotron X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy

Introduction Brominated flame retardants (BFR), particularly polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), are commonly used as flame retardants in consumer products such as electronic Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10623-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Atanu Sarkar [email protected] Peter Blanchard [email protected] Nicole Babichuk [email protected] 1

Canadian Light Source, Saskatoon, SK S7N 2V3, Canada

2

Division of Community Health Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL A1B 3V6, Canada

3

4M110, Health Sciences Centre, Division of Community Health Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL A1B 3V6, Canada

goods (televisions, computers, wire insulations, etc.), fabrics, mattresses, upholstery, and beddings (CCCEH 2020). These chemical remains in the environment for decades (like other persistent organic pollutants or POPs) and enter the food chain. Majority of the studies on human contaminations focused on dietary exposure to PBDEs by eating contaminated food, for example, fish, meat, particularly marine ma