Accumulations and equilibrium conditions of organophosphate esters (OPEs) in the indoor window film and the estimation of concentrations in air

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Language of the publication
English
Date
2022-07-29
Type
Accepted manuscript
Author(s)
  • Huo, Chun-Yan
  • Liu, Li-Yan
  • Hung, Hayley
  • Sun, Yu
  • Guo, Jia-Qi
  • Wu, Yong-Kai
  • Sverko, Ed
  • Li, Wen-Long
Publisher
Elsevier

Abstract

The study of the fate of organophosphate esters (OPEs) in the interior environment is vital because of the growing use of OPEs. Organic films on glass are both sink and sources of indoor pollutants. Indoor window films have been employed as passive air samplers to collect OPEs in the indoor air. Nevertheless, little is known about the development and equilibrium condition of OPEs on indoor window films during the film formation process. In this study, the concentrations of twelve OPEs in indoor window films from different buildings on a university campus and the growth thickness of the films as a function of sampling time were investigated in different seasons. Ten out of the 12 OPEs were detected in window film with >50% frequency. Tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) and tris (1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP), which are chlorinated and toxic OPEs, were the dominant OPEs found in the winter. The majority of OPEs in window films exhibited linear growth patterns within 77 days. Temperature, humidity, ventilation, and seasonality all affected the concentrations of various OPEs in the window films. Low molecular weight OPEs, such as tri-n-butyl phosphate and TCEP, attained equilibrium between indoor air and window films within 49 or 77 days. The indoor air concentrations of OPEs were estimated from their film concentrations based on the theoretical approach for the passive air sampler. In winter, the predicted gas-phase air concentrations of OPEs (3.7 ng/m3 for TECP) were significantly lower than or comparable to summer (11 ng/m3, p < 0.05). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to combine uncertainty and sensitivity analysis to understand the behaviors of OPEs in indoor film and air.

Subject

  • Air,
  • Nature and environment,
  • Science and technology

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Pagination

8 pages

Peer review

Yes

Open access level

Green

Identifiers

ISSN
1879-1026
0048-9697

Article

Journal title
Science of The Total Environment
Journal volume
848
Article number
157724
Accepted date
2022-07-26
Submitted date
2022-05-08

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Air

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