CAREER: Emission and Transport of PBDEs in Indoor Environments

多溴联苯醚（PBDEs）是一种内分泌干扰化合物（EDCs），在美国被广泛用作消费品和建筑材料中的阻燃剂。尽管已经证实了多溴联苯醚在室内的暴露和对健康的不良影响，但由于我们对其在室内环境中的来源和归宿了解不足，限制多溴联苯醚暴露的有效策略仍然受到阻碍。本职业发展计划的目标是明确阐明室内环境中多溴二苯醚排放和迁移的基本机制。具体的研究目标是：1)开发一种新的、快速的微室方法来表征消费品中多溴二苯醚的排放；2)通过系统的实验室研究确定多溴二苯醚与室内颗粒和表面的吸附相互作用；3)建立多溴二苯醚室内输运模型，包括排放、吸附、解吸和颗粒输运过程；4)在大型试验室内进行一系列控制试验，验证输运模型；5)通过现场测量，将从实验室获得的模型和知识应用于各种室内环境。这个CAREER项目将结合尖端的实验室实验、分析建模和实地研究，以连贯的方式明确阐明室内环境中多溴二苯醚排放和运输的基本机制。PI将率先开发一种新的快速微室方法来测量控制多溴二苯醚排放的关键参数；使用创新的直接SPME-NTD方法精确测量PBDE气体/颗粒分配；并将新的命运和输运模型应用于各种室内环境的现场测量结果。此外，PI将把对排放的机理理解与以前被忽视的颗粒和内部表面的强吸附联系起来。该项目将大大提高我们预测排放、命运和运输以及半挥发性EDCs暴露的能力。因为多溴二苯醚只是释放到我们生活环境中的大量半挥发性EDCs中的一种。这个CAREER项目针对的是对胎儿和儿童造成严重影响、导致终身疾病和残疾的污染物。预测多溴二苯醚排放和运输的基本方法几乎可以肯定地推广到从家庭、学校、办公室、汽车和工厂中发现的大量材料和产品中排放的其他半挥发性多溴二苯醚。新的机理理解将使绿色材料的有效设计成为可能，因为控制排放的化学和材料特性被清楚地理解了。对于那些希望在绿色建筑中指定使用低排放材料的建筑师和工程师来说，这将是有价值的；允许使用经过验证的模型来制定产品环境绩效标准或绿色标签；并允许卫生专业人员在广泛的环境情景中估计与多溴二苯醚相关的暴露和风险。

CBET-1150713 XuPolybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) that are used extensively as flame retardants in consumer products and building materials in the U.S. Although significant indoor exposures and adverse health effects have been confirmed, effective strategies to limit exposures to PBDEs remain hamstrung by our poor understanding of their sources and fate in indoor environments. The goal of this CAREER development plan is to explicitly elucidate the fundamental mechanisms governing the emission and transport of PBDEs in indoor environments. Specific research objectives are to: 1) develop a novel, rapid, micro-chamber method to characterize emissions of PBDEs from consumer products; 2) determine the sorptive interactions of PBDEs with indoor particles and surfaces through systematic laboratory studies; 3) develop PBDE indoor transport models that include the processes of emission, sorption, desorption and particle transport; 4) conduct a series of controlled tests in large-scale chambers to validate the transport models; and 5) apply the models and knowledge obtained from the laboratory to a variety of indoor environments through field measurements. This CAREER project will combine cutting-edge laboratory experiments, analytical modeling and field studies in a coherent way to explicitly elucidate the fundamental mechanisms governing the emission and transport of PBDEs in indoor environments. The PI will be the first to: develop a novel and rapid micro-chamber method to measure key parameters that control PBDE emissions; accurately measure PBDE gas/particle partitioning using an innovative direct SPME-NTD approach; and apply the new fate and transport model to explain the results of field measurements to a variety of indoor environments. In addition, the PI will connect the mechanistic understanding of emissions to the previously ignored strong sorption by particles and interior surfaces. This project will significantly advance our ability to predict emission, fate and transport, and exposure to semi-volatile EDCs ? as PBDEs represent only one of a vast array of semi-volatile EDCs that are released into our living environments.This CAREER project addresses contaminants that disproportionately affect fetuses and children, leading to lifelong illnesses and disabilities. The fundamental approach to predict emissions and transport of PBDEs can almost certainly be generalized to a wide range of other semivolatile EDCs emitted from a host of materials and products found in homes, schools, offices, cars, and factories. The new mechanistic understanding will enable effective design of green materials because the chemical and material properties that govern emissions are clearly understood. It will be of value to architects and engineers who wish to specify low-emitting materials for use in green buildings; allow the use of validated models for developing standards of product environmental performance or green labels; and permit health professionals to estimate exposure and risk associated with PBDEs for a wide range of environmental scenarios.