Many legacy and emerging flame retardants (FRs) have adverse human and environmental health effects. This study reports legacy and emerging FRs in children from nine European countries from the HBM4EU aligned studies. Studies from Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Norway conducted between 2014 and 2021 provided data on FRs in blood and urine from 2136 children. All samples were collected and analyzed in alignment with the HBM4EU protocols. Ten halogenated FRs were quantified in blood, and four organophosphate flame retardants (OPFR) metabolites quantified in urine. Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) were infrequently detected (<16% of samples). BDE-47 was quantified in blood from Greece, France, and Norway, with France (0.36 ng/g lipid) having the highest concentrations. BDE-153 and -209 were detected in <40% of samples. Dechlorane Plus (DP) was quantified in blood from four countries, with notably high median concentrations of 16 ng/g lipid in Slovenian children. OPFR metabolites had a higher detection frequency than other halogenated FRs. Diphenyl phosphate (DPHP) was quantified in 99% of samples across 8 countries at levels ∼5 times higher than other OPFR metabolites (highest median in Slovenia of 2.43 ng/g lipid). FR concentrations were associated with lifestyle factors such as cleaning frequency, employment status of the father of the household, and renovation status of the house, among others. The concentrations of BDE-47 in children from this study were similar to or lower than FRs found in adult matrices in previous studies, suggesting lower recent exposure and effectiveness of PBDE restrictions.

Department of Environmental Health Norwegian Institute of Public Health Oslo Norway

Department of Environmental Medicine Institute of Public Health University of Southern Denmark Odense 5000 Denmark

Department of Environmental Sciences Jožef Stefan Institute Ljubljana 1000 Slovenia

Environmental Engineering Laboratory Department of Chemical Engineering Aristotle University of Thessaloniki 54124 Thessaloniki Greece; HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation Balkan Center Bldg B 10th km Thessaloniki Thermi Road 57001 Greece

Environmental Engineering Laboratory Department of Chemical Engineering Aristotle University of Thessaloniki 54124 Thessaloniki Greece; HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation Balkan Center Bldg B 10th km Thessaloniki Thermi Road 57001 Greece; Environmental Health Engineering Institute of Advanced Study Palazzo del Broletto Piazza Della Vittoria 15 27100 Pavia Italy

Faculty of Public Health Slovak Medical University Bratislava 833 03 Slovakia

German Environment Agency 06844 Dessau Roßlau Germany

IPASUM Institute and Outpatient Clinic of Occupational Social and Environmental Medicine Henkestrasse 9 11 91054 Erlangen Germany

National Centre for Environmental Health Instituto de Salud Carlos 3 Majadahonda Madrid Spain

RECETOX Faculty of Science Masaryk University Kotlarska 2 Brno Czech Republic

Santé Publique France French Public Health Agency Saint Maurice 94415 France

Toxicological Center University of Antwerp 2610 Wilrijk Belgium

VITO Health Flemish Institute for Technological Research Mol 2400 Belgium

VITO Health Flemish Institute for Technological Research Mol 2400 Belgium; Department of Biomedical Sciences University of Antwerp 2020 Antwerp Belgium

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment Section Chemistry for Environment and Health De Boelelaan 1108 1081 HZ Amsterdam Netherlands

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