Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in indoor air during waste TV recycling process

Recycling process for waste TV sets mainly consists of dismantling, printed wiring board (PWB) heating, PWB recycling, and plastic crushing in formal recycling plant. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) contained in waste TV sets are released to indoor air. Air samples at 4 different workshops were collected to measure the PBDEs concentrations in both gaseous and particulate phases. The mean concentrations of EPBDEs in indoor air were in the range of 6780-2,280,000 pg/m3. The highest concentration in gaseous phase (291,000 pg/m3) was detected in the PWB heating workshop. The E12PBDEs concentrations in PM2.5 and PK() at the 4 workshops ranged in 6.8-6670g,g/g and 32.6-6790 pg/g, respectively. The gasparticle partitioning of PBDEs was disrupted as PBDEs were continuously released during the recycling processes. Occupational exposure assessment showed that only the exposure concentration of BDE47 (0.118 u,g/kg/day) through inhalation in the PWB heating workshop for workers without facemask exceeded the reference dose (0.1 p.g/kg/day), posing a health hazard to workers. All the results demonstrated that recycling of TV sets was an important source of PBDEs emission, and PBDEs emission pollution was related to the composition of TV sets, interior dust, and recycling process. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.