Organophosphate and phthalate esters in indoor air: a comparison between multi-storey buildings with high and low prevalence of sick building symptoms

Abstract

An extensive study has been conducted on the prevalence of organophosphorous flame retardants/plasticizers and phthalate ester plasticizers in indoor air. The targeted substances were measured in 45 multi-storey apartment buildings in Stockholm, Sweden. The apartment buildings were classified as high or low risk with regard to the reporting of sick building symptoms (SBS) within the project Healthy Sustainable Houses in Stockholm (3H). Air samples were taken from two to four apartments per building (in total 169 apartments) to facilitate comparison within and between buildings. Association with building characteristics has been examined as well as association with specific sources by combining chemical analysis and exploratory uni- and multivariate data analysis. The study contributes to the overall perspective of levels of organophosphate and phthalate ester in indoor air enabling comparison with other studies. The results indicated little or no difference in the concentrations of the target substances between the two risk classifications of the buildings. The differences between the apartments sampled within (intra) buildings were greater than the differences between (inter) buildings. The concentrations measured in air ranged up to 1200 ng m⁻³ for organophosphate esters and up to 11 000 ng m⁻³ for phthalate esters. Results in terms of sources were discerned e.g. PVC flooring is a major source of benzylbutyl phthalate in indoor air.