Measurement of DEHP concentration in house dust in Japan and Korea

Phthalates are used as plasticizers and flame retardants in building materials and phthalates emitted in indoor environment tend to adhere to house dust. According to Wensing, infants take dust 10times as adults, so an investigation on the concentration of phthalates in house dust is important. This study examined the concentration of phthalate in house dust in Japan and Korea. Specially, Korea house much used polyvinyl flooring as floor product and also used floor heating system during the winter. As a result, the amount of the collected dust per square meter in Japan house was more than the one in Korea house. In addition, the amount of house dust in Japan was more than the one in Korea house, even in under dust 63μm. And the concentration of DEHP in the houses investigated in Korea was higher than 50 percentile in Germany and some Korea houses were higher than 95 percentile in Germany. Japan houses investigated had lower concentration of DEHP in house dust than 95 percentile in Germany, and some house in Japan were lower than 50 percentile in Germany.