Indoor dust is considered an important human exposure route to flame retardants (FRs), which has arised concern due the toxic properties of some of these substances. In this study, ten organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs), eight polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and four new brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) were determined in indoor dust from different places in Araraquara-SP (Brazil). The sampled places included houses, apartments, offices, primary schools and cars. The analysis of the sample extracts was performed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and two ionization techniques were used (electron ionization – EI; electron capture negative ionization – ECNI). OPFRs were the most abundant compounds and tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP), tris(phenyl) phosphate (TPHP), tris(1,3-dichloroisopropyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) and tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP) were present at the highest concentrations. Among the brominated FRs, the most ubiquitous compounds were BDE-209, bis(2-ethylhexyl) tetrabromophthalate (BEH-TEBP) and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE). Statistical analysis revealed that there were differences among dust typologies for TBOEP, TDCIPP, ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPHP), BDE-209, 2-ethylhexyl 2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate (EH-TBB), BEH-TEBP and DBDPE, which were attributed to different construction materials in each particular environment and to the age of the buildings. The highest levels of brominated FRs were observed in offices, TBOEP was at high concentration in primary schools, and TDCIPP was at high concentration in cars. A preliminary risk assessment revealed that toddlers were exposed to TBOEP levels higher than the reference dose when considering the worst case scenario. The results obtained in this study showed for the first time that although Brazil does not regulate the use of FRs, these substances are present in indoor dust at levels similar to the observed in countries that have strict fire safety standards, and that humans are exposed to complex mixtures of these contaminants via indoor dust.

室内粉尘被认为是人类接触阻燃剂（FRs）的重要途径，由于其中某些物质的毒性，已引起人们的关注。在这项研究中，从Araraquara-SP（巴西）不同地方的室内灰尘中确定了十种有机磷阻燃剂（OPFR），八种多溴二苯醚（PBDE）和四种新的溴化阻燃剂（NBFR）。抽样地点包括房屋，公寓，办公室，小学和汽车。样品萃取物的分析是通过气相色谱与质谱联用进行的，使用了两种电离技术（电子电离– EI；电子捕获负电离– ECNI）。OPFR是最丰富的化合物，磷酸三（2-丁氧基乙基）酯（TBOEP），磷酸三（苯基）酯（TPHP），三（1，磷酸3-二氯异丙基酯（TDCIPP）和磷酸三（2-氯异丙基酯）（TCIPP）含量最高。在溴化的FR中，最普遍的化合物是BDE-209，双（2-乙基己基）四溴邻苯二甲酸酯（BEH-TEBP）和十溴二苯乙烷（DBDPE）。统计分析显示，在TBOEP，TDCIPP，乙基己基磷酸二苯酯（EHDPHP），BDE-209、2-乙基己基2,3,4,5-四溴苯甲酸酯（EH-TBB），BEH-TEBP和DBDPE，归因于每种特定环境中不同的建筑材料以及建筑物的使用年限。在办公室中，溴化的FRs含量最高，在小学中TBOEP含量很高，而在汽车中TDCIPP含量很高。初步风险评估显示，在考虑最坏情况时，幼儿暴露于TBOEP的水平高于参考剂量。这项研究获得的结果首次表明，尽管巴西没有规定阻燃剂的使用，但是这些物质在室内粉尘中的含量与在具有严格消防安全标准的国家中观察到的含量相似，并且人类暴露于这些污染物通过室内灰尘的复杂混合物。