Flame retardant chemicals in office dust

BOSTON, June 30 (UPI) -- Polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants -- banned internationally -- were detected in the dust in 31 Boston offices, researchers say.

Lead author Deborah Watkins, a Ph.D. candidate at the Boston University School of Public Health, says the study found concentrations of PBDEs in office dust and on the hands of the offices' occupants.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, found the amount of PBDEs on workers' hands to be a good predictor of how much was measured in their blood.

However, frequent handwashing appeared to reduce exposure to certain PBDEs, Watkins says.

PBDEs were widely used in computers, electronics, polyurethane foam padding in office chairs, furniture and carpeting, so the chemicals are likely to be found in offices nationwide.

U.S. manufacturers voluntarily discontinued production of penta-BDE and another PBDE formulation by the end of 2004 after epidemiologic studies linked exposure to constituents of the PBDE formulation penta-BDE -- which was used in polyurethane foam -- with changes in people's thyroid hormones, women's fertility, lowered levels of testosterone in men, neurodevelopmental deficits in children and undescended testicles in babies.

The because of the long half-lives of these compounds, people will be exposed for many years, but the researchers also found frequent handwashing appeared to reduce exposure to certain PBDEs.