Complex Mixtures of Chlorinated Paraffins Found in Hand Wipes of a Norwegian Cohort

Up to 18000 ng of total chlorinated paraffins (CPs) was found in hand wipes of individual adult participants in a Norwegian cohort study (n = 60), with a geometric mean (SD) value of 870 (2700) ng. The CPs covered a wide range of alkane chain lengths from C7 to C48 with variable chlorine substitution. Complex mixtures of very-short-chain (vSCCPs, C 17) CPs were found, contributing on average 0.3%, 20%, 58%, and 22%, respectively, of the total CPs. Significant positive correlations were found between CP levels and factors related to the indoor environment and product use, including living in a house/apartment built before the ban of SCCPs, having a sofa, the number of TVs in the home, and owning a car, which mirrors CP usage as flame retardants and/or plasticizers in consumer products. Compared to previous studies of other organic contaminants in hand wipe samples from the same cohort, CPs were the most abundant flame ...