The large EU-funded population study has published conclusions of analysis of ten halogenated FRs in blood and four organo-phosphate metabolites in urine from 2136 children from nine European countries. Median levels of BDE-47 of c. 0.3 ng/g-lipid were found in children’s blood in France and Norway, and median levels of Dechlorane Plus of 16 ng/g-lipid in Slovenia.. The most widely detected organo-phosphate metabolite detected in children’s urine was diphenyl phosphate (DPHP), found in nearly all samples, with a median of c. 2 µg/g-creatine in several countries. However, as the study notes, DPHP is both used as such and is a metabolite of TPHP, which is used as a flame retardant but also in a wide variety of products, including hydraulic fluids and nail polish. Other organo-phosphate metabolites were found much less frequently and at considerably lower concentrations (BDCIPP often detected, BCEP and BCIPP not often detected).
“Exposure to flame retardants in European children — Results from the HBM4EU aligned studies”, V. van der Schyffet al., International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 247 (2023) 114070 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2022.114070