Morphology, spatial distribution, and concentration of

flame retardants in consumer products and

environmental dusts using scanning electron microscopy
and Raman micro-spectroscopy
Based on their morphologies and spatial distribution the Flame Retardant(FR) has been
grouped into 7 environmental dusts and 7 consumer products, for the sake of determining their
implications for transfer mechanisms, human exposure, and the reproducibility of gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry (called GC-MS) dust measurements. The individual particles
are characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (in short SEM) and energy dispersive xray spectroscopy (called EDS) and last but not least Raman micro-spectroscopy(RMS). Tests
made on the samples resulted the presence of 3 FR constituents (bromine, phosphorous, and nonsalt chlorine), apart from that 2 metal synergists (antimony and bismuth). Further researched
using RMS allowed the molecular identification of the FR compounds and matrix materials.
Studies show 24 Fr-containing particles in the dust samples which have been grouped into 9
types based on their morphology and composition. To be able to describe the heterogeneity of
FR-containing particles in environmental dust samples an equation has been developed, which
shows that in a 1-mg dust sample with a FR-concentration of 100ppm the range of these particles
are between 1 to 1000 particles. Human exposure to FR in highly concentrated dust particles
when they distributed heterogeneously is characterized by high transient exposures infused by
periods of low exposure, also GC-MS FR concentrations may show large variability in simulated
subsamples. With the arrival of plastics to the global marketplace after World War II, hundreds of
various FRs have been used in an increasing variety of products which are built up by petroleumbased polymers. They are either inorganic or organic products, each of the classes making up
half of the global FR production volume. The inorganic FRs which contain aluminum
trihydroxide magnesium hydroxide and antimony trioxide are used alone or sometimes in
combination with organic FRs, on the other hand the organic FRs can be further classified as
either organohalogenated products containing chlorine or bromine or as organophosphorous
products containing phosphorous , while other organic FRs contain both phosphorous and a
halogen or neither. Halogenic FRs are of interest because of their tendency to bioaccumulate in
the food chain, also their association in human and animal studies with endocrine disruption,
immunotoxicity reproductive toxicity , effects on child development and cancer in short their
harmfulness. Many surveys on residential dust had shown that FRs do contain bromine ,chlorine
and phosphorous which are ubiquitous contaminants in homes around the world and that
residential dust is a probable source of human exposure to FRs .An average U.S. home is bound
to contain numerous consumer goods treated with FRs , some of these include furniture carpets
draperies televisions and computers among others.