Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are increasingly used as flame retardants and plasticizers in various products. Most of them are physically mixed rather than chemical bonded to the polymeric products, leading to OPEs being readily released into the surrounding environment. Due to their relatively high solubility and mobility, OPEs are ubiquitous in the aquatic environment and may pose potential hazards to human health and aquatic organisms. This review systematically summarized the fate and distribution of OPEs in the aquatic environment and the potential effects of OPEs on humans. Data analysis shows that the concentrations of OPEs vary widely in various types of aquatic environments, including surface water (range: 25–3671 ng/L), drinking water (4–719 ng/L), and wastewater (104–29,800 ng/L). The results of human exposure assessments via aquatic products and drinking water ingestion indicate that all OPEs pose low, but not negligible, risks to human health. In addition, the limitations of previous studies are summarized, and the outlook is provided. This review provides valuable information on the occurrence and distribution of OPEs in the aquatic environment.

As one of the major sources of volatile pollutants in indoor air, gaseous emissions from adhesives during interior decoration have attracted increasing concern. Identifying major volatile pollutants and the risk in adhesive gaseous emissions is of great significance, but remains rarely reported. In the present research, we assessed the major volatile pollutants emitted from white emulsion adhesive and silicone adhesive samples (n = 30) from three aspects: chemical composition, odor and health risk contributions. The results showed that a total of 21 volatile pollutants were detected. Significantly, xylene was the most concentrated compound from white emulsion adhesives, accounting for 45.51% of the total concentrations. Butanone oxime was the most concentrated compound in silicone adhesives, accounting for 69.86% of the total concentrations. The trends in odor concentration (evaluated by the odor activity value method) over time were well correlated with the total chemical concentrations. Xylene (58.00%) and butanone oxime (76.75%) showed the highest odor contribution, respectively. Moreover, from an integrated perspective of chemical emissions, odor and health risk contributions, xylene, ethylbenzene, ethyl acetate and benzene were identified as the key volatile pollutants emitted from the white emulsion adhesives, while butanone oxime, butanone, and ethanol were the key volatile pollutants emitted from the silicone adhesives. This study not only identified the key volatile pollutants but also provided characteristics of odor and health risks of gas emitted from adhesives.