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An international investigation of chlorinated paraffin concentrations and homologue distributions in indoor dust
Summary
Scientists tested household dust from four countries (Japan, Australia, Colombia, and Thailand) and found chlorinated paraffins, industrial chemicals used in plastics, sealants, and other products, in every single sample. While current safety calculations suggest the amounts we swallow from house dust aren't dangerous, some of these chemical types are so new to research that scientists don't yet have enough safety data or lab tools to fully rule out health risks, meaning this is a chemical family worth watching as research continues.
In this study, very short-, short-, medium-, and long-chain chlorinated paraffins (vSCCPs, SCCPs, MCCPs and LCCPs, respectively) were measured in 40 indoor dust samples from four countries including Japan (n = 10), Australia (n = 10), Colombia (n = 10) and Thailand (n = 10). Homologues of the chemical formula CxH(2x+2-y)Cly ranging C6-36 and Cl3-30 were analysed using liquid chromatography coupled to Orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-Orbitrap-HRMS) and integrated using novel custom-built CP-Seeker software. CPs were detected in all dust samples with MCCPs the dominant homologue group in all countries. Overall median ∑SCCP, ∑MCCP and ∑LCCP (C18-20) concentrations determined in dust samples were 30 μg/g (range; 4.0-290 μg/g), 65 μg/g (range; 6.9-540 μg/g) and 8.6 μg/g (range; <1.0-230 μg/g), respectively. Of the quantified CP classes, overall concentrations were generally highest in the samples from Thailand and Colombia, followed by Australia and Japan. vSCCPs with C≤9 were detected in dust from each country with an overall frequency of 48%, while LCCPs (C21-36) were present in 100% of samples. Estimated daily intakes (EDIs) calculated for SCCPs and MCCPs relating to ingestion of contaminated indoor dust were considered not to represent health risks based on currently available toxicological data using the margin of exposure (MOE) approach. To the authors' knowledge, this study provides the first data on CPs in indoor dust from Japan, Colombia and Thailand, and is among the first reports of vSCCPs in indoor dust, globally. These findings indicate that further toxicological data and the availability of appropriate analytical standards are needed to evaluate the potential for negative health outcomes deriving from exposure to vSCCPs and LCCPs.