Indoor environments have shown to be a major source of human exposure of polychlorinated alkanes (PCAs), yet information on their distribution across indoor matrices and associated exposure pathways remains limited. PCAs, the main components in chlorinated paraffin mixtures, are widely used as flame retardants and plastic additives in numerous indoor consumer products and materials. This study quantified PCAs in paired indoor dust and indoor organic films (IOFs) from homes, offices, schools and gym sports halls (n = 41) in Sweden and assess their contribution to human exposure. Mean PCA concentrations in indoor dust were 7.3, 43.2, and 14.6 μg g -1 for ∑PCAs-C 10–13 , ∑PCAs-C 14–17 , and ∑PCAs-C 18–30 , respectively, while corresponding concentrations in IOFs were 38.2, 312, and 123 ng m -2 . PCAs-C 14–17 dominated both matrices, but IOFs showed an enrichment tendency towards longer-chain, higher-K OA PCAs, reflecting the less frequent cleaning and longer-term PCA accumulation in IOFs. IOF concentrations were particularly elevated in schools, and PCA variation across sites was influenced by differences in ventilation practices and building age. Dermal uptake was the dominant exposure pathway for children, with substantially estimated doses from IOFs, while adults show comparable dust dermal and dust ingestion exposures. PCA transformation products formed through hydroxylation, hydrolysis, and sulfation were also tentatively detected in both matrices. These findings highlight the importance of jointly assessing dust and IOFs to better characterize multipathway exposure to the diverse PCA mixture in indoor environments. • Dermal uptake was the main polychlorinated alkane (PCA) exposure route in children • Adults showed comparable ingestion and dermal exposure to PCAs • Indoor films were enriched in longer-chain PCAs with high K OA • PCA concentrations were higher in indoor organic film from schools • PCA concentrations in indoor organic films were linked to ventilation
Ezker et al. (Wed,) studied this question.