Perfluoroalkyl acids and their precursors in floor dust of children's bedrooms – Implications for indoor exposure.

Abstract We analysed floor dust samples from 65 children's bedrooms in Finland collected in 2014/2015 for 62 different per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) with a simple and highly efficient method. Validation results from the analysis of standard reference material (SRM) 2585 were in good agreement with literature data, while 24 PFASs were quantified for the first time. In the dust samples from children's bedrooms, five perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) were detected in more than half of the samples with the highest median concentration of 5.26 ng/g for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). However, the dust samples were dominated by polyfluoroalkyl phosphoric acid esters (PAPs) and fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) (highest medians: 53.9 ng/g for 6:2 diPAP and 45.7 ng/g for 8:2 FTOH). Several significant and strong correlations (up to ρ = 0.95) were found among different PFASs in dust as well as between PFASs in dust and air samples (previously published) from the same rooms. The logarithm of dust to air concentrations (log K dust/air) plotted against the logarithm of the octanol-air partition coefficient (log K oa) resulted in a significant linear regression line with R2 > 0.88. Higher dust levels of PFOS were detected in rooms with plastic flooring material in comparison to wood (p < 0.05). Total estimated daily intakes via dust (EDI dust) and air (EDI air) of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA), including biotransformation of precursors to PFAAs, were calculated for 10.5-year-old children. The total EDI dust for PFOA and PFOS were estimated to be 0.007 ng/kg bw/day and 0.006 ng/kg bw/day, respectively, in an intermediate exposure scenario. The sum of the total EDIs for all PFAAs was slightly higher for dust than air (0.027 and 0.019 ng/kg bw/day). Precursor biotransformation was generally important for total PFOS intake, while for the PFCAs, FTOH biotransformation was estimated to be important for air, but not for dust exposure. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • PAPs and FTOHs were the predominant PFASs in children's bedroom floor dust. • Linear regression was obtained between log K dust/air and log K oa (r = 0.94, R2 > 0.88). • PFOS dust levels were higher in rooms with plastic than wooden floor material. • PFCA intake via dust was driven by direct intake and not by precursor intake. • 53 PFASs were detected in the dust standard reference material (SRM) 2585. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]