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 (∑20OPE) in textiles ranged from 4.85 to 1.18 × 106 ng/g (median: 228 ng/g). Significantly higher concentrations of ∑20OPE were found in flame retardant-treated fabrics (n = 23; median: 8.18 × 104 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 tris(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.