Environmental impacts and use of brominated flame retardants in electrical and electronic equipment

Management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) or e-waste is becoming a major issue as around 20–50 million tons of such waste is generated worldwide and increasing at a higher rate than other solid waste streams. Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) contains over 1,000 materials of which brominated flame retardants (BFRs) such as polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been the target of the regulators forcing manufacturers to adopt halogen-free flame retardants. As far as these alternatives are concerned, key consideration should be its performance during the whole life cycle through design, use and end-of-life management. The global halogen-free flame retardant movement has reached a point of no return. The most important issue as far as the environment is concerned, for which the transformation to halogen-free retardants was initially targeted, is to make sure that life span of the EEE using the alternatives to BFRs is not shortened thereby resulting in unforeseen increases in e-waste to deal with. The aim of this article is to investigate the environmental issues and current developments related to the use of BFRs in EEE manufacture. It describes the sources, toxicity and human exposure of BFRs, EOL management such as recycling and thermal treatments, exposure of BFRs from e-waste processing facilities and the environment around them and examines the developments and feasibility of the alternatives to BFR in EEE manufacture.     

Levels and bioaccumulation of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in fishes from the Pearl River estuary and Daya Bay, South China

Fifty fish samples were collected from the Pearl River estuary (PRE) and Daya Bay, South China and were analyzed for DDTs, HCHs, chlordanes and polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Except the high concentrations of DDT observed in fishes, the concentrations of HCHs, chlordanes and PBDEs were low when compared to other regions. BDE-47 was the predominant PBDE congener and the BDE-209 concentrations were relatively low, despite its high concentration in surface sediments. The absence of significant increase of DDT, HCH, chlordane and PBDE concentrations towards higher delta15N values, as well as the lack of a significant correlation (p<0.1) between log concentrations (lipid normalized) and delta15N, may indicate a weak biomagnification of these chemicals in the food webs. Good agreement was observed between their concentrations and lipid contents of the organisms. Bioconcentration was suggested to be responsible for the accumulation of OCPs and PBDEs in the lower trophic organisms in the studied subtropical waters.     

Spatial trends of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in avian species: utilization of stored samples in the Environmental Specimen Bank of Ehime University (es-Bank)

The present study determined concentrations and patterns of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in specimens of open sea, and Japanese coastal and inland avian species, which have been stored in the Environmental Specimen Bank of Ehime University (es-Bank), to examine the spatial trends. PBDEs and PCBs were detected in all the muscle samples analyzed, suggesting that PBDE pollution has spread even to the remote open sea areas, as in the case of PCBs. Japanese coastal and inland birds accumulated higher concentrations of PBDEs than open sea birds. In addition, higher PBDE/PCB concentration ratios were observed in Japanese coastal and inland birds than in open sea birds, indicating the input of PBDEs into the Japanese terrestrial environment. Compositions of PBDEs varied among avian species with a predominance of BDE47 or BDE153. This could be due to differences in their habitat, food habit and/or biotransformation capacity of PBDEs.     

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and organochlorines in melon-headed whales, Peponocephala electra, mass stranded along the Japanese coasts: maternal transfer and temporal trend

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and organochlorine compounds (OCs) were determined in the blubber of 55 melon-headed whales (Peponocephala electra) mass stranded along the Japanese coasts since 1982. DDTs and PCBs were predominant in all the specimens investigated. In whales that died during the latest event in 2006, concentrations of PBDEs (190–510 ng/g lipid wt) were approximately two orders of magnitude lower than DDTs and PCBs, but comparable with HCHs and HCB. Maternal transfer of PBDEs to offspring through the whole reproductive process was estimated to be 85% of the mother's body burden, while that occurring during gestation was much lower (2.6–3.5%). Concentrations of PCBs, DDTs, and HCB were lower in melon-headed whales stranded after the year 2000 than those stranded in 1982, whereas PBDE and CHL levels showed a temporal increase during the past 20 years, suggesting that the peak of their usage and contamination occurred after the year 1982.     

羟基多溴联苯醚(3'-OH-BDE-7)的大鼠体外肝代谢研究

本文利用液相色谱-质谱联用技术,建立了羟基多溴联苯醚3'-OH-BDE-7在S.D.大鼠肝匀浆中的体外代谢研究方法.实验结果表明,3'-OH-BDE-7的主要代谢产物为2,4-二溴苯酚和二羟基多溴联苯醚(diOHPBDEs),并且其在温孵30min,时代谢转化率为90%.3'-OH-BDE-7的代谢研究为其它羟基多溴联...     

多溴联苯醚的环境毒理学研究进展

多溴联苯醚(PBDEs)是一类广泛使用的溴代阻燃剂,其大量生产和使用导致了越来越严重的环境污染.由于PBDEs具有较高的亲脂性,化学性质比较稳定,它们可远距离传输到地球各种环境介质中,并通过食物链累积放大,在生物体内蓄积产生毒性效应.本文针对近年来PBDEs毒性效应和致毒机制的研究进展,从PBDEs的内分泌干扰毒性、发...     

珠江入海口水体中多溴联苯醚及其来源分析

2005年3月至2006年2月,选取珠江8个入海口,进行每月1次为期1周年的水样采集。检测了96个水样的多溴联苯醚（PBDEs,包括BDE 28、47、66、85、99、100、138、153、154、183、196、197、203、206、207、208和209）的残留状况。水体中PBDEs的质量浓度为0.344～68.0 ng·L-1。PBDEs的组成分析结果表明：珠江水体PBDEs的来源以土壤和沉积物源为主,而目前珠三角陆地环境中PBDEs仍不断蓄积,其通过珠江地表径流迁移转换的PBDEs将逐年增多,给珠三角水生态环境带来的压力逐日增加,所造成的生态环境及公众健康影响将是深远的。     

莱州湾地区土壤及底泥中多溴联苯醚水平及其分布

对莱州湾地区十溴联苯醚生产厂家附近土壤及底泥中的多溴联苯醚的含量进行了检测.所采集土壤和河流底泥样品中Σ8 PBDEs(BDE-28、-47、-100、-99、-154、-153、-183、-209) 的含量在58.2～7190.7 ng·g-1(干重)之间, 所有样品中,BDE-209 相对含量最高,其对Σ8PBDEs 的贡献为74.81% ～99.01 %.在8种PBDEs同族体的相关性研究中发现BDE-209与BDE-183、-154、-153、-100、-99呈现显著负相关,相关系数r为-0.842～-0.996(α=0.01).BDE-183、-154、-153、-100、-99之间呈显著正相关,相关系数r为0.805～0.994(α=0.01).产品十溴联苯醚在环境中的降解可能是测定样品中BDE-99、-100、-153、-154、-183的来源之一.     

典型电子垃圾拆解区大气中多溴联苯醚的污染

分别在典型电子垃圾拆解区(E)和其上风向参考点(S)采集了大气颗粒相和气相样品.以研究该区域大气中PBDEs的浓度水平、污染特征和气/固分布特点.分析过程中运用气相色谱.质谱联用仪,负化学离子源(GC-NCI-MS)检测了11种PBDEs结果表明,电子垃圾拆解造成r比较严蘑的PBDEs污染,三溴-十溴联苯醚的浓度范围为51.1～2 685 pg.m-3,(平均值830Pg.m-3),而对照区由于制衣行业的影响也造成了一定程度的PBDEs污染,三溴～十溴联苯醚的浓度范围为1.00-98.9Pg.m-3(平均值28.7 Pg.m-3).在气/固分布的研究中发现,不同的PBDEs在气相和颗粒相的分布比例相差很大,从低溴至高溴PBDEs在气相中的比例呈降低趋势,而在颗粒相中的比例呈上升趋势.电子垃圾拆解区以五溴.联苯醚污染为主,占∑11PBDEs总量的54.3%;而十溴-联苯醚污染次之,占∑11PBDEs总最的23.8%,该污染特征进一步证实了该地区电子垃圾的来源,不仅来自亚洲国家,而且还来自欧美等国家.     

Exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers among workers at an electronic waste dismantling region in Guangdong, China

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used as flame retardants. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the PBDE serum levels in residents from an electronic waste dismantling region, residents living within 50 km of the dismantling region, and a referent group with no occupational PBDE exposure. Fourteen PBDE congeners including BDE-28, BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-100, BDE-153, BDE-154, BDE-183, BDE-196, BDE-197, BDE-203, BDE-206, BDE-207, BDE-208 and BDE-209 were quantified in these three groups by gas chromatography-negative chemical ionization (NCI) mass spectrometry in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. We found that the levels of all PBDE congeners in serum of residents from electronic waste dismantling region were significantly higher than those in the two other groups. The referents showed the lowest PBDE levels. Concentrations of congeners with a high number of bromine substituents, i.e., hepta- to decaBDEs in occupational exposure workers were 11-20 times higher than those in the referent group. BDE-209 was the dominant congener. The highest concentration of BDE-209 was observed among the electronic waste dismantling workers, and it was 3436 ng g(-1) lipid weight (ng g(-1) l.w.), which is the highest concentration of BDE-209 in humans worldwide. Some higher brominated PBDE congeners such as BDE-197, BDE-207 and BDE-208 also showed elevated concentrations in dismantling workers. This study confirms that BDE-209 is released to the environment and can bioaccumulate in the blood of electronic waste dismantling workers, and extensive occupational exposure to PBDEs leads to elevated concentrations of all PBDE congeners in serum.