TY - JOUR AU - den Ouden, Fatima AU - Que, Danielle E. AU - Bosschaerts, Stijn AU - Jung, Joeun AU - Jo, Ah-Reum AU - Poma, Giulia AU - Tosepu, Ramadhan AU - Umar, Ani AU - Ahmed, Mohamed Bedair M. AU - Abdelhafez, Hossam El Din H. AU - Hossain, Abrar Shahariar AU - Hossain, Khaled AU - Lee, Aram AU - Park, Jeongim AU - Kliengchuay, Wissanupong AU - Tantrakarnapa, Kraichat AU - Choi, Kyungho AU - Covaci, Adrian TI - Exposure and risk assessment of organophosphate flame retardants in Egyptian, Bangladeshi, Thai, Indonesian and South Korean children JO - Journal of Environmental Exposure Assessment PY - 2026 VL - 5 IS - 3 SP - EP - 25 SN - ISSN 2771-5949 (Online) AB -

Children are considered a vulnerable subpopulation for exposure to emerging contaminants such as organophosphate flame retardants (PFRs). However, in some countries, only limited data on PFR exposure in children are available. Therefore, this study investigated exposure to 8 PFRs by analysis of urinary levels of 13 PFR metabolites in children (n = 502, 6-14 years) from specific regions in Egypt, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, and South Korea. Overall, more than half of the children showed exposure to triphenyl phosphate (TPHP), tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP), tris (1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCIPP), and 2-ethylhexyldiphenyl phosphate (EHDPHP), with South Korean children showing the highest urinary levels for diphenyl phosphate (DPHP, 0.78 ng/mL), bis (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BDCIPP, 0.27 ng/mL), and 1-hydroxy-2-propyl bis (1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BCIPHIPP, 0.74 ng/mL). Children in Bangladesh showed the lowest detection frequencies and urinary metabolite levels for DPHP (0.27 ng/mL), 2-ethylhexyl phenyl phosphate (EHPHP, < LOQ), and 2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl diphenyl phosphate (5-HO-EHDPHP, < LOQ). Exposure patterns differed significantly between countries. Differences in exposure patterns might result from differences in lifestyle habits such as consumption of canned food, canned beverages, and microwaved food, and housing characteristics. In addition, country-specific flame-retardant regulations might also explain differences between countries. Risk assessment showed only one child with a risk characterization ratio and hazard index > 1, indicating that the included population was not at acute risk for adverse effects due to exposure to PFRs.

KW - Human biomonitoring KW - urine KW - metabolites KW - comparison KW - exposure determinants KW - risk assessment DO - 10.20517/jeea.2026.15 UR - https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/jeea.2026.15