Direct measurements of polyurethane foam (PUF) ‒ air partitioning coefficients for chemicals of emerging concern capable of equilibrating in PUF disk samplers.

Organophosphate esters (OPEs), novel flame retardants (NFRs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are volatile to semi-volatile chemicals and therefore susceptible to approach equilibrium during typical deployments of polyurethane foam (PUF) disk passive air samplers. A generator column approach was used to measure the PUF-air partitioning coefficient (K) for these targeted chemicals. K values are required for these chemicals to estimate sampled equivalent air volumes, which vary substantially with temperature.

Flame retardants in urban air: A case study in Toronto targeting distinct source sectors.

Based on distinct land-use categories, a sampling campaign was carried out at eight locations across Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area in 2016-2017. Source sectors' dependent patterns of atmospheric concentrations of 9 organophosphate esters (OPEs), 9 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and 5 novel flame retardants (NFRs) showed dominance of OPEs and PBDEs at highly commercialised urban and traffic sites, while NFRs, were dominant at residential sites. Overall, average concentrations of ΣOPEs (1790 pg/m) were two orders of magnitude higher than ΣPBDEs (9.