Benzotriazole, benzothiazole, and benzophenone compounds in indoor dust from the United States and East Asian countries.

Organic corrosion inhibitors (OCIs), including ultraviolet light filters, are widely used in plastics, rubbers, colorants, and coatings to increase the performance of products. Derivatives of benzotriazole (BTR), benzothiazole (BTH), and benzophenone (BP) are high-production volume OCIs that have been detected in the environment and human tissues. However, knowledge of their occurrence in indoor environments, as well as human exposure to them, is still lacking. In this study, BTR, BTH, BP and their 12 derivatives were determined in indoor dust for the first time. All three groups of OCIs were found in all 158 indoor dust samples from the U.S. and three East Asian countries (China, Japan, and Korea). The geometric mean (GM) concentration of the sum of six BTRs (GM CΣBTRs) ranged from 20 to 90 ng/g among the four countries studied, with a maximum CΣBTRs of ∼2000 ng/g found in a dust sample from China. Tolyltriazole was the major derivative of BTR measured in dust. GM CΣBTHs in indoor dust from the four countries ranged from 600 to 2000 ng/g. 2-OH-BTH was the predominant BTH in dust from the U.S., Japan, and Korea. GM CΣBPs in dust ranged from 80 to 600 ng/g, with 2-OH-4-MeO-BP and 2,4-2OH-BP, contributing to the majority of ∑BP concentrations. Based on the concentrations of three types of OCIs in indoor dust, human exposure through dust ingestion was calculated. Daily intake of OCIs through dust ingestion was higher for people in the U.S., Japan, and Korea than in China; the residents in urban China are exposed to higher levels of OCIs via dust ingestion than are those in rural China.