Assessing Surface Sediment Contamination by PBDE in a Recharge Point of Guarani Aquifer in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil

Abstract

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used as flame retardants in several products, although they can act as neurotoxic, hepatotoxic and endocrine disruptors in organisms. In Brazil, their levels in aquatic sediments are poorly known; thus, concerns about the degree of exposure of the Brazilian population to PBDEs have grown. This study aimed to quantify the presence of PBDEs in sediment samples from an important groundwater water supply in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, and to contribute to studies related to the presence of PBDEs in Brazilian environments. Gas chromatography coupled with Electron Capture Detection (GC-ECD) was used for quantification after submitting the samples to ultrasound-assisted extraction and clean-up steps. Results showed the presence of six PBDE, BDE-47 being the most prevalent in the samples, indicating a major contamination of the penta-PBDE commercial mixture. The concentration of ΣPBDEs (including BDE-28, -47, -66, -85, -99, -100, -138, -153, -154 and -209) varied between nd (not detected) to 5.4 ± 0.2 ng g−1. Although preliminary, our data show the anthropic contamination of a direct recharge area of the Aquifer Guarani by persistent and banned substances.

Removal of Organic Pollution in the Water Environment

“…The Special Issue consists of nine papers describing a wide spectrum of research related to the removal of environmentally significant pollutants from aqueous samples and their determination in various matrices. The presented articles can be classified into three broad thematic sectors related to the topic of the special issue: new methods of isolation and determination of compounds from the EOCs group [22][23][24], occurrence of EOCs in the water environment [24,25], and new approaches to the degradation of significant water pollutants or their removal [26][27][28][29][30].…”

“…Five compounds were detected in shallow groundwater wells (depth: 3-8 m), and two compounds in deep drilling wells (depth: 15-46 m). Ferrari et al [25] described in their paper a well-documented study of the occurrence and concentration in aquatic sediments of ten congeners of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). PBDEs belong to the group of flame retardants and are used for reducing the risk of fires.…”

Flame Retardants: New and Old Environmental Contaminants

“…Weak chemical interaction between manufactured products and FRs applied to them aggravates FR dispersion in the environment, not to mention that numerous compounds employed as FRs have serious effects on human health and the environment. Therefore, ensuring conscious use of these chemicals is crucial [14][15][16].…”

Cell damage induced by polybrominated diphenyl ethers on Chironomus sancticaroli (Diptera: Chironomidae)

“…Similarly, levels of PBDEs in dust from houses ranged from 8 to 407 ng g -1 . A different study showed that the maximum level of PBEs concentration in sediment samples from a groundwater water supply in Brazil was 5.4 ng g -1 (Ferrari et al, 2019). Considering biological samples, PBDEs have been detected in species of fish, mussels and dolphins from Brazil (Silva et al, 2013;Magalhães et al, 2017;Quinete et al, 2011;Yogui et al, 2011).…”