Brominated Flame Retardants in the Atmosphere of E-Waste and Rural Sites in Southern China: Seasonal Variation, Temperature Dependence, and Gas-Particle Partitioning

Tian, Mi; Chen, She-Jun; Wang, Jing; Zheng, Xiaobo; Luo, Xiao-Jun; Mai, Bi-Xian

doi:10.1021/es202284p

Cited by 138 publications

(122 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…This finding was in good agreement with the result for brominated flame retardants in this region. 32 The concentrations of PCBs in the plants at the e-waste site ranged from 88.0 to 635 ng/g and from 27.5 to 1993 ng/g, with average concentrations of 369 and 670 ng/g in eucalyptus leaves and pine needles, respectively. The average concentrations were only approximately two and six times higher than those at the rural sites.…”

Section: ■ Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Elevated Levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Plants, Air, and Soils at an E-Waste Site in Southern China and Enantioselective Biotransformation of Chiral PCBs in Plants

Chen

Tian

Zheng

et al. 2014

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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E-waste that contains polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is moved across national boundaries, often from industrialized countries in the northern hemisphere, where the items were formerly used, to subtropical and tropical regions in southeastern Asia and Africa. As a result, there is a high likelihood that PCBs will be released into the environment from a primary source due to the elevated temperatures encountered in these lowlatitude regions. In the present study, PCBs and enantiomer fractions (EFs) of chiral PCBs (PCB 84, 95, 132, 136, 149, and 183) were analyzed in air, eucalyptus leaves, pine needles, and soil at an ewaste site and a rural site in southern China. The concentrations of PCBs at the e-waste site ranged from 7825 to 76330 pg/m 3 , 27.5 to 1993 ng/g, and 24.2 to 12045 ng/g in the air (gas plus particle), plant leaves, and soils, respectively. The atmospheric PCB composition profiles in the present study indicated relatively high abundances of penta-and hexa-PCBs, which were different from those previously observed in the air across China. The Clausius−Clapeyron regression analysis indicated that evaporation from local contaminated surfaces constitutes a primary emission source of PCBs in the air at the e-waste site. The chiral signatures of PCBs in the air at the e-waste site were essentially racemic (mean EFs = (0.484 ± 0.022)−(0.499 ± 0.004) in the gaseous phase) except for PCB 84 (0.420 ± 0.050), indicating that racemic sources dominate the PCB emission in the air. PCB chiral signatures in the soils ((0.422 ± 0.038)−(0.515 ± 0.016)) were similar to those in the air except for PCB 95. However, the chiral PCBs in the plants (especially the eucalyptus leaves) had significantly nonracemic residues ((0.368 ± 0.075)−(0.561 ± 0.045)) compared to those in the air and soil. This finding suggests that enantioselective biotransformation of these atropisomeric PCBs was very likely to occur in the plant leaves, possibly due to metabolism by cytochrome P-450 enzymes in leaves. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the enantioselective metabolism of chiral PCBs in plants under field conditions.

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Section: ■ Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Elevated Levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Plants, Air, and Soils at an E-Waste Site in Southern China and Enantioselective Biotransformation of Chiral PCBs in Plants

Chen

Tian

Zheng

et al. 2014

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…Detailed description on the analytical protocols has been given in a previous study (Tian et al, 2011).…”

Section: Analytical Protocolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…typically observed in urban air in North America, Europe, and other Asian countries (Tian et al, 2011), implying existence of outdoor industrial sources. The PBDEs measured in indoor dust in a few PRD cities were at intermediate levels with means of 2365e6875 ng/g (Huang et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2010;Chen et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in indoor and outdoor air in a community in Guangzhou, a megacity of southern China

Ding

Wang

Chen

et al. 2016

Environmental Pollution

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a b s t r a c tIndoor environments contribute a significant portion of human exposure to brominated flame retardants (BFRs) because of their extensive use in various household products. This study investigates the occurrence of a number of BFRs in the indoor and outdoor air in a megacity in southern China, in which little information on indoor BFRs contamination is available. The estimated total PBDE concentrations ranged from 1.43 to 57 pg/m 3 indoors and from 1.21 to 1522 pg/m 3 outdoors. The indoor concentrations of lower brominated PBDEs that are mainly derived from the technical penta-and octa-BDE mixtures were higher than or comparable to the outdoors, while the indoor levels of DecaBDEs and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) were apparently lower than the outdoors. The seasonal variations of BFR concentrations indicated that evaporation from old indoor products is the primary source of Penta-and OctaBDEs in the air, whereas most DecaBDEs and DBDPE concentrations showing weak temperature-dependence are largely released from industrial activities. The PBDE congener profiles in the air were generally similar, which were dominated by BDE209, 28, and 47; whereas the appreciable indooreoutdoor differences in the compositions are possibly due to emission sources, photochemical degradation, or congener-specific transport of BFRs in the indoor and outdoor air. Significant correlations between the indoor and outdoor BFRs were observed suggesting the exchange of BFRs between the two compartments, which are more noticeable for PentaBDEs and DecaBDEs with strong indoor and outdoor emission sources, respectively. This study provides significant insights into the sources of BFRs in urban air in China.

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“…Leachate containing PBDEs may enter water bodies from landfills (Ma et al 2012), sewage treatment plants (STP), migration from groundwater, and atmospheric deposition (Meyer et al 2011;Tian et al 2011;Ma et al 2012). PBDEs entering the aquatic environment may also depend on whether or not the leachate is treated prior to discharge.…”

Section: Consequence Of Pbdes Leaching Into the Aquatic Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of PBDEs in Landfill Leachates from Across Canada

Danon-Schaffer

Grace

Ikonomou

2014

EMSD

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Leachates from 27 landfills (e.g. planned disposal area) across southern Canada and 11 dump sites (e.g. unorganized disposal area) in the Canadian North were collected (2006) and analysed (2006)(2007)(2008) for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). There was wide variability in the results, both in terms of the total PBDE concentrations and in the distribution of congeners. Northern sites tended to have lower concentrations than southern ones, but some northern levels were significant, despite the low population density and lack of industry in the north. The North could potentially act as a sink for PBDE contaminants because many organic compounds get deposited via air or water currents in the North even though they were not manufactured there.

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Brominated Flame Retardants in the Atmosphere of E-Waste and Rural Sites in Southern China: Seasonal Variation, Temperature Dependence, and Gas-Particle Partitioning

Cited by 138 publications

References 33 publications

Elevated Levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Plants, Air, and Soils at an E-Waste Site in Southern China and Enantioselective Biotransformation of Chiral PCBs in Plants

Elevated Levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Plants, Air, and Soils at an E-Waste Site in Southern China and Enantioselective Biotransformation of Chiral PCBs in Plants

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in indoor and outdoor air in a community in Guangzhou, a megacity of southern China

Investigation of PBDEs in Landfill Leachates from Across Canada

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