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Hammel et al. J Environ Expo Assess 2024;3:8 Journal of Environmental
DOI: 10.20517/jeea.2023.51
Exposure Assessment

Research Article Open Access

Novel and legacy brominated flame retardants in
human breast milk and house dust from Denmark

Stephanie C. Hammel 1 , Katrin Vorkamp 2 , Jesper Bo Nielsen 3 , Lars S. Sørensen 4,5 , Lisbeth E.
Knudsen 6 , Marie Frederiksen 1
1
The National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen Ø 2100, Denmark.
2
Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde 4000, Denmark.
3
Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M 5230, Denmark.
4
Danish Building Research Institute, Aalborg University, Copenhagen SV 2450, Denmark.
5
Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby 2800, Denmark.
6
Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K 1014, Denmark.
Correspondence to: Dr. Marie Frederiksen, The National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Lersø Parkalle 105,
Copenhagen Ø 2100, Denmark. E-mail: mef@nfa.dk
How to cite this article: Hammel SC, Vorkamp K, Nielsen JB, Sørensen LS, Knudsen LE, Frederiksen M. Novel and legacy
brominated flame retardants in human breast milk and house dust from Denmark. J Environ Expo Assess 2024;3:8. https://dx.doi.
org/10.20517/jeea.2023.51

Received: 18 Dec 2023 First Decision: 15 Jan 2024 Revised: 2 Feb 2024 Accepted: 18 Feb 2024 Published: 29 Feb 2024
Academic Editors: Judy LaKind, Stuart Harrad Copy Editor: Fangyuan Liu Production Editor: Fangyuan Liu

Abstract
A suite of novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs), hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs), polybrominated
diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and dechlorane plus were measured in matched samples of house dust (n = 47) and
human breast milk (n = 40) from Denmark sampled in 2007, i.e., shortly after PBDE restrictions were implemented
in Europe providing a valuable reference point. The most abundant BFR in breast milk was BDE-153 with a median
concentration of 0.79 ng/g lipid followed by BDE-47 (median: 0.61 ng/g lipid) and BDE-209
(median: 0.53 ng/g lipid). Levels of bis(2-ethylhexyl) tetrabromophthalate (BEH-TEBP) were comparable (median:
0.78 ng/g lipid); however, they were based on fewer samples. α-HBCDD was the most abundant HBCDD in breast
milk (median: 0.24 ng/g lipid) and detected in all samples. The house dust samples were dominated by BDE-209
(median: 432 ng/g) and γ-HBCDD (median: 177 ng/g); among the NBFRs, the highest levels were found for
decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) (median: 86.2 ng/g) and BEH-TEBP (median: 26.7 ng/g). BDE-28, 47 and 153
were significantly correlated between breast milk and serum (r = 0.73-0.81, P < 0.0001); however, this was not the
s
case for any of the NBFRs. Intake estimates for a 3-month-old infant indicated that for most of the flame retardants,
breast milk was by far the dominant route of exposure, whereas dust only contributed substantially for BDE-209, γ-
HBCDD, and to some extent α-HBCDD. This study is the first to report on human exposure to NBFRs in Denmark

© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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