Exposure assessment for air-to-skin uptake of traditional and emerging organophosphate flame retardants

Human exposure to organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) via direct air-to-skin uptake that may be comparable to or even exceed inhalation. Previous studies have mainly focused on traditional OPFRs (tOPFRs) without sufficient attentions to emerging OPFRs (eOPFRs), such as isopropylated or tert-but...

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Main Authors: Yujuan Fan, Ran Qi, Sicong Dong, Jing Zhang, Shiyu Shi, Youhua Zhao, Pengkun Wei, Guangxuan Yan, Ke Cheng, Huanjia Liu, Dan Yao, Chen Chen, Zhiguo Cao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Environment International
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025004799
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author Yujuan Fan
Ran Qi
Sicong Dong
Jing Zhang
Shiyu Shi
Youhua Zhao
Pengkun Wei
Guangxuan Yan
Ke Cheng
Huanjia Liu
Dan Yao
Chen Chen
Zhiguo Cao
author_facet Yujuan Fan
Ran Qi
Sicong Dong
Jing Zhang
Shiyu Shi
Youhua Zhao
Pengkun Wei
Guangxuan Yan
Ke Cheng
Huanjia Liu
Dan Yao
Chen Chen
Zhiguo Cao
author_sort Yujuan Fan
collection DOAJ
description Human exposure to organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) via direct air-to-skin uptake that may be comparable to or even exceed inhalation. Previous studies have mainly focused on traditional OPFRs (tOPFRs) without sufficient attentions to emerging OPFRs (eOPFRs), such as isopropylated or tert-butylated triaryl phosphate ester isomers (ITPs or TBPPs). This study aims to further explore the transport of both OPFRs through the skin, specifically the stratum corneum (SC). In addition to tOPFRs, eOPFRs were frequently detected in the forehead and the back. The composition of ITPs and TBPPs was predominated by 2-isopropylphenyl diphenyl phosphate and bis(4-tert-butylphenyl) phenyl phosphate, respectively. Removal of the OPFRs with consecutive tape strips demonstrated that OPFRs diffusion through the skin exhibited declining concentration patterns with depth. A diffusion model was applied to the surface skin to simulate the OPFR concentration profiles and was compared with measured concentrations. We found that tris(1-chloroethyl) phosphate, tri-ethyl phosphate, and tris(2-chlorothyl) phosphate-with higher skin diffusion coefficients-could penetrate deeper into skin than other targeted OPFRs, observations confirmed by the model results as well, indicating that OPFRs have the potential for absorption into the bloodstream.
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series Environment International
spelling doaj-art-76b0fc81c30d4a2593b4a2c80eece8f62025-08-20T04:03:22ZengElsevierEnvironment International0160-41202025-09-0120310972810.1016/j.envint.2025.109728Exposure assessment for air-to-skin uptake of traditional and emerging organophosphate flame retardantsYujuan Fan0Ran Qi1Sicong Dong2Jing Zhang3Shiyu Shi4Youhua Zhao5Pengkun Wei6Guangxuan Yan7Ke Cheng8Huanjia Liu9Dan Yao10Chen Chen11Zhiguo Cao12Corresponding authors.; School of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, ChinaSchool of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, ChinaSchool of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, ChinaSchool of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, ChinaSchool of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, ChinaSchool of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, ChinaSchool of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, ChinaSchool of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, ChinaSchool of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, ChinaSchool of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, ChinaSchool of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, ChinaSchool of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, ChinaCorresponding authors.; School of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, ChinaHuman exposure to organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) via direct air-to-skin uptake that may be comparable to or even exceed inhalation. Previous studies have mainly focused on traditional OPFRs (tOPFRs) without sufficient attentions to emerging OPFRs (eOPFRs), such as isopropylated or tert-butylated triaryl phosphate ester isomers (ITPs or TBPPs). This study aims to further explore the transport of both OPFRs through the skin, specifically the stratum corneum (SC). In addition to tOPFRs, eOPFRs were frequently detected in the forehead and the back. The composition of ITPs and TBPPs was predominated by 2-isopropylphenyl diphenyl phosphate and bis(4-tert-butylphenyl) phenyl phosphate, respectively. Removal of the OPFRs with consecutive tape strips demonstrated that OPFRs diffusion through the skin exhibited declining concentration patterns with depth. A diffusion model was applied to the surface skin to simulate the OPFR concentration profiles and was compared with measured concentrations. We found that tris(1-chloroethyl) phosphate, tri-ethyl phosphate, and tris(2-chlorothyl) phosphate-with higher skin diffusion coefficients-could penetrate deeper into skin than other targeted OPFRs, observations confirmed by the model results as well, indicating that OPFRs have the potential for absorption into the bloodstream.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025004799Organophosphate flame retardantsAir-to-skin uptakeStratum corneumVertical distributionDiffusion modelExposure assessment
spellingShingle Yujuan Fan
Ran Qi
Sicong Dong
Jing Zhang
Shiyu Shi
Youhua Zhao
Pengkun Wei
Guangxuan Yan
Ke Cheng
Huanjia Liu
Dan Yao
Chen Chen
Zhiguo Cao
Exposure assessment for air-to-skin uptake of traditional and emerging organophosphate flame retardants
Environment International
Organophosphate flame retardants
Air-to-skin uptake
Stratum corneum
Vertical distribution
Diffusion model
Exposure assessment
title Exposure assessment for air-to-skin uptake of traditional and emerging organophosphate flame retardants
title_full Exposure assessment for air-to-skin uptake of traditional and emerging organophosphate flame retardants
title_fullStr Exposure assessment for air-to-skin uptake of traditional and emerging organophosphate flame retardants
title_full_unstemmed Exposure assessment for air-to-skin uptake of traditional and emerging organophosphate flame retardants
title_short Exposure assessment for air-to-skin uptake of traditional and emerging organophosphate flame retardants
title_sort exposure assessment for air to skin uptake of traditional and emerging organophosphate flame retardants
topic Organophosphate flame retardants
Air-to-skin uptake
Stratum corneum
Vertical distribution
Diffusion model
Exposure assessment
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025004799
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