Occurrence and Profiles of Organophosphate Esters in Infant Clothing and Raw Textiles Collected from the United States

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are used as flame retardants in a variety of consumer products including certain textiles. Little is known with regard to the occurrence of and dermal exposure to OPEs present in textiles/fabrics. In this study, concentrations and profiles of 20 OPEs were measured in 160 textile samples collected from the United States. The sum concentrations of 20 OPEs (Sigma 20OPE) in textiles ranged from 4.85 to 1.18 x 10(6) ng/g (median: 228 ng/g). Significantly higher concentrations of Sigma 20OPE were found in flame retardant-treated fabrics (n = 23; median: 8.18 x 10(4) ng/g), especially those manufactured in the United States. Trace levels of OPEs were also detected in infant clothing. Triphenyl phosphate was the predominant compound (40.2% of total concentrations) found in flame retardant-treated textiles, followed by cresyl diphenyl phosphate (34.5%) and his(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (17.9%). The calculated dermal exposure doses in infants of major OPEs present in textiles were 5 orders of magnitude below the current reference doses. This study provides the first evidence of the occurrence of OPEs in textiles and clothing purchased in the United States.