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Résumé (français)

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Résumé (anglais)

We aim to determine biological concentrations of four congeners of brominated flame retardants, which have no occupational exposure limits, in American and Canadian workers. Serum concentrations of four polybrominated diphenyl ethers congeners (BDE47, 99, 100 and 153) were obtained from the American National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2004 and the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) 2007-2009 databases. Data from participants aged 16-65 were classified by industry and occupational group. Values below the detection limit (< LOD) were replaced by LOD/sq2. Descriptive statistics are presented. A total of 813 and 1100 serum samples were respectively available in NHANES and CHMS. Proportions of values < LOD varied by survey: BDE47 (NHANES, 1.4%; CHMS, 22.7%), BDE99 (32.3%; 73.9%), BDE100 (4.7%; 72.9%), BDE153 (5.7%; 55.9%). BDE47 was the congener with the highest lipid-adjusted mean concentrations (NHANES, 44.5ng/g; CHMS, 22.8ng/g). Higher BDE47 means were found in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing industries (61.9ng/g) and in Protective Services and Armed Forces occupations (48.5ng/g) for NHANES, whereas in CHMS they were higher in Manufacturing of Durable Goods industries (40.3ng/g) and in Construction and Extraction occupations (44.7ng/g). BDE153 means were higher for men than for women in both databases (NHANES-men: 16.8ng/g, NHANES-women: 11.4ng/g; CHMS-men: 11.0ng/g, CHMS-women: 7.8ng/g). In NHANES, non-working men had higher mean concentrations than workers for all congeners. In the absence of occupational exposure limits, population surveys can be useful to establish reference levels, but careful interpretation is required for chemicals such as flame retardants that are ubiquitous in both the general and work environments.