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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 25160

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Karthikraj Rajendiran

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Guest Editor

Division of Environmental Health Sciences, New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center, Albany, NY 12201, USA
Interests: plasticizers; emerging pollutants; endocrine disrupting chemicals; melamine; analytical toxicology

Prof. Dr. Tao Zhang

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Guest Editor

School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
Interests: emerging contaminants; human exposure; environmental processes; food chains; metabolism; mechanism of toxicity
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Dr. Un-Jung Kim

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Guest Editor

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), Arlington, USA
Interests: environmental fate; flame retardants; passive sampling; exposure assessment; transformation products

Dr. Maria Pilar Martinez-Moral

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Guest Editor

Center for Biomedical Research of La Rioja, Department of Oncology, Logrono, Spain
Interests: flame retardants; phthalates; bisphenols; oxidative stress markers; PFAS

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are organizing a Special Issue on “Human Exposure to Emerging Flame Retardants and Alternative Plasticizers” for the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH).

Some of the chemicals that have been used in consumer products have been found to be toxic, and their exposure in humans is linked to various environmental diseases, such as hormonal dysfunction, neurological disorders, kidney diseases, and various cancers. Hence, there has been a rapid increase in the replacement of such harmful chemicals with alternative chemicals in consumer products. However, the toxicity profiles of such emerging alternative chemicals are often either unclear, or they tend to possess similar toxicity to the original toxic chemicals. Thus, it is important to assess the exposure levels and sources of such emerging replacement chemicals and their associated impacts on human health. Among environmental chemicals, plasticizers and flame retardants are a group of high production volume chemicals that have been extensively used for domestic and industrial purposes. In recent decades, some of the harmful legacy chemicals used as plasticizers and flame retardants have been replaced with several alternatives, leading to inevitable exposure to these emerging chemicals in humans and their potential release into the environment. However, there is still a dearth of information on some of these replacement chemicals, such as their exposure levels in various populations, cumulative risk assessments, associated biomarkers, health outcomes, exposure pathways, toxicological effects, reference doses, threshold values, etc.

Therefore, this Special Issue is mainly focused on research works addressing these critical issues and expanding the knowledge of emerging replacement chemicals. Studies on target compounds such as OPFRs, NBFRs, polychlorinated flame retardants (Dechlorane Plus), TBBPA, HBCDs, PFAS replacements, melamine, DINCH, BPA alternatives, terephthalate, and other emerging relevant chemicals will be given high priority. We encourage the submission of original research or review articles emphasizing these emerging contaminants using biomonitoring studies (including metabolites and transformation products in humans), epidemiological investigations and other exposome approaches, exposure assessment studies (via food and environmental monitoring), and data-mining and informatics approaches to this Special Issue. Manuscripts reporting novel analytical methods (sampling and analytical strategies) and toxicological studies conducted on these emerging chemicals and their metabolites are also welcomed.

Dr. Karthikraj Rajendiran
Dr. Tao Zhang
Dr. Un-Jung Kim
Dr. Maria Pilar Martinez-Moral
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

phthalate replacement
alternative flame retardants
biomonitoring studies
human health
exposure pathways
risk assessment
cohort study
metabolite toxicity
data mining
oxidative stress markers

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 1950 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Occurrence, Distribution, and Risk of Organophosphate Flame Retardants in Sediments from Jiulong River Estuary and Adjacent Western Taiwan Strait, China

by Ling Cai, Yuwei Shi, Chenyuan Pan, Feng Zhu, Siqi Wang, Juanjuan Dai, Ming Yang and Jing Ma

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(4), 2449; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042449 - 20 Feb 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2602

Abstract

Organophosphate ester flame retardants (OPFRs) are widely prevalent in the environment and are of significant concern because of their potential toxicity to human health and wildlife. In this study, the concentration, frequency, spatial distribution, potential sources, and ecological risks of OPFRs in sediments from the Jiulong River estuary and the adjacent western Taiwan Strait were investigated. Concentrations of four of the five studied OPFRs were between <LOD and 36.6 ng/g. The distribution of all OPFRs, except 2-Ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPP), remained highly consistent with hydrological (salinity) trends. Furthermore, a significantly positive correlation between EHDPP and total concentrations suggested that it may be the dominant contaminant at both sites. Principal element analysis indicated multiple sources of OPFRs, which were categorized as emissions from road runoff and surface traffic, effects of atmospheric deposition and hydrologic conditions, and a combination of industrial and population effects. Ecological risk indicates that tris (chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) and triphosphate ester (2,3-dibromopropyl) (TDBPP) have almost no risk, tris (clorisopropyl) phosphate (TCPP) generally has low risk, while EHDPP has moderate risk with the highest value of 0.487 in the sediments from both sites. Meanwhile, TCPP and TCEP exhibit lower theoretical health risks but are still not negligible. Overall, this work provides data to support global pollutant studies and facilitate the implementation of pollutant control strategies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Exposure to Emerging Flame Retardants and Alternative Plasticizers)

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11 pages, 1701 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Organophosphate Flame Retardants and Perfluoroalkyl Substances in Drinking Water Treatment Plants from Korea: Occurrence and Human Exposure

by Wonjin Sim, Sol Choi, Gyojin Choo, Mihee Yang, Ju-Hyun Park and Jeong-Eun Oh

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(5), 2645; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052645 - 5 Mar 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3671

Abstract

In this study, the concentrations of organophosphate flame retardants (OPFR) and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were investigated in raw water and treated water samples obtained from 18 drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs). The ∑₁₃OPFR concentrations in the treated water samples (29.5–122 ng/L; median 47.5 ng/L) were lower than those in the raw water (37.7–231 ng/L; median 98.1 ng/L), which indicated the positive removal rates (0–80%) of ∑₁₃OPFR in the DWTPs. The removal efficiencies of ∑₂₇PFAS in the DWTPs ranged from −200% to 50%, with the ∑₂₇PFAS concentrations in the raw water (4.15–154 ng/L; median 32.0 ng/L) being similar to or lower than those in the treated water (4.74–116 ng/L; median 42.2 ng/L). Among OPFR, tris(chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP) and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) were dominant in both raw water and treated water samples obtained from the DWTPs. The dominant PFAS (perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA)) in the raw water samples were slightly different from those in the treated water samples (PFOA, L-perfluorohexane sulfonate (L-PFHxS), and PFHxA). The 95-percentile daily intakes of ∑₁₃OPFR and ∑₂₇PFAS via drinking water consumption were estimated to be up to 4.9 ng/kg/d and 0.22 ng/kg/d, respectively. The hazard index values of OPFR and PFAS were lower than 1, suggesting the risks less than known hazardous levels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Exposure to Emerging Flame Retardants and Alternative Plasticizers)

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15 pages, 3128 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exposure to Phthalate and Organophosphate Esters via Indoor Dust and PM10 Is a Cause of Concern for the Exposed Saudi Population

by Nadeem Ali, Nabil A. Alhakamy, Iqbal M. I. Ismail, Ehtisham Nazar, Ahmed Saleh Summan, Syed Ali Musstjab Akbar Shah Eqani and Govindan Malarvannan

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 2125; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18042125 - 22 Feb 2021

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3135

Abstract

In this study, we measured the occurrence of organophosphate esters (OPEs) and phthalates in the settled dust (floor and air conditioner filter dust) and in suspended particulate matter (PM10) from different microenvironments (households (n = 20), offices (n = 10) and hotels (n = 10)) of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Bis (2-Ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) was the major pollutant (contributing >85% of total chemicals burden) in all types of indoor dust with a concentration up to 3,901,500 ng g⁻¹. While dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and DEHP together contributed >70% in PM10 (1900 ng m⁻³), which indicate PM10 as a significant source of exposure for DBP and DEHP in different Saudi indoor settings. Tris (1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP) was the major OPE in PM10 with a concentration of up to 185 ng m⁻³ and the occurrence of OPEs in indoor dust varied in studied indoor settings. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of studied chemicals via dust ingestion and inhalation of PM10 was below the reference dose (RfD) of individual chemicals. However, estimated incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) with moderate risk (1.5 × 10⁻⁵) for Saudi adults and calculated hazardous index (HI) of >1 for Saudi children from DEHP showed a cause of concern to the local public health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Exposure to Emerging Flame Retardants and Alternative Plasticizers)

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15 pages, 576 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Short- and Medium-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins in Polyvinylchloride and Rubber Consumer Products and Toys Purchased on the Belgian Market

by Thomas J. McGrath, Giulia Poma, Hidenori Matsukami, Govindan Malarvannan, Natsuko Kajiwara and Adrian Covaci

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(3), 1069; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031069 - 26 Jan 2021

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 5468

Abstract

This study investigates the presence of Stockholm Convention listed short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) and their replacement medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs) counterparts in polyvinyl chloride and rubber consumer products and toys purchased on the Belgian market in 2019. SCCPs were detected in 27/28 samples at concentrations ranging from <LOQ–130,000 µg/g with a median level of 2.5 µg/g, while MCCPs were detected in only five samples ranging <LOQ–3500 µg/g. Levels of SCCPs in all but one of the samples were below the European Union’s guideline limit of 0.15%, by weight, and concentrations of both SCCPs and MCCPs in the majority of products suggested unintentional incorporation to the polymeric materials. The homologue distribution of SCCPs was generally dissimilar to known commercial formulations and appeared to be indicative of contamination during manufacture or via recycling of previously treated goods. MCCP patterns, conversely, were broadly representative of those reported for industrial mixtures and may have been inadvertently incorporated via the application of mixed carbon-chain length CP formulations or recycled goods. This research suggests that overall SCCP presence has decreased in goods on the European market compared with previous reports and that both SCCPs and MCCPs may still enter EU marketplaces from unintentional sources. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Exposure to Emerging Flame Retardants and Alternative Plasticizers)

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Review

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17 pages, 387 KiB

Open AccessReview

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): Significance and Considerations within the Regulatory Framework of the USA

by Blake Langenbach and Mark Wilson

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(21), 11142; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111142 - 23 Oct 2021

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 8920

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are an emerging environmental crisis. Deemed forever chemicals, many congeners bioaccumulate and are incredibly persistent in the environment due to the presence of the strong carbon-fluorine covalent bonds. Notable PFAS compounds include perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and GenX. Robust toxicological knowledge exists for these substances, but regulatory decisions based on this knowledge has fallen behind. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has addressed this issue with the PFAS Action Plan and EPA Council on PFAS, but the regulatory framework is severely lacking. Currently, no federal regulations or standards exist. Many occupational and non-occupational human cohorts exist that can lend knowledge on the environmental implications of PFAS and associated health effects. Occupationally, firefighters face significant exposure risks due to use of PFAS containing aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs) and personal protective equipment contamination. Non-occupationally, wastewater discharge in North Carolina led to chronic and widespread residential exposure to GenX via drinking water contamination. This public health review seeks to convey the current and future significance of PFAS as an environmental contaminate, to lend considerations on regulatory frameworks within the USA, and to help guide and promote the need for future epidemiological studies in order to tackle this environmental emergency. While the PFAS Action Plan creates a scientific and regulatory foundation, it is important to take these lessons and apply them to future environmental health issues. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Exposure to Emerging Flame Retardants and Alternative Plasticizers)

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