Phthalates and Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Retail Stores PDF

Retail stores are an environment with a rich diversity of toxic chemicals typically found in consumer products.Among these chemicals, semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) are an important class with great health concerns.Phthalates and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are high production volume SVOC chemicals pervasively used inplastics and other consumer products. Exposure to them may cause serious adverse health effects, including endocrinedisruption. They, however, have not been widely studied in retail environments. In this study, indoor air samples werecollected from 15 retail stores in Austin, TX and University Park, PA. Some of these stores were revisited on differenttemperate seasons to account for weather variability. Indoor concentrations of the most ubiquitous pollutants werecorrelated with several building characteristics, including retailer type, temperature, and building use characteristics.Collected data shows a wider variety of phthalates and PBDEs, as well as higher indoor airborne concentrations for largedepartment stores as compared to grocery stores, which typically have fewer sources in comparison.