Distribution of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and HBCD in sediments of the Hunhe River in Northeast China

Abstract

Forty surface sediment samples from the Hunhe River in Northeast China were evaluated for contamination by polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD). The results showed that decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) was the predominant congener, accounting for >98 % of PBDEs in all sediment. The concentrations of BDE-209 and HBCD ranged from 3.96 to 327 ng/g dry weight and 0.05 to 25.8 ng/g dry weight, respectively, suggesting that BDE-209 was more widely applied in the study area. The mean concentrations of BDE-209 and HBCD in the downstream portion of the Hunhe River (BDE-209 148 ng/g dry weight and HBCD 3.74 ng/g dry weight) were found to be relatively higher than those in the upstream portion of the Hunhe River and the Dahuofang Reservoir, revealing an association with municipal sewage and industrial effluent received from the cities of Fushun and Shenyang. γ-HBCD was the most abundant diastereoisomer of all three analyzed HBCD isomers; however, marked elevations of α-HBCD were also found in most sediment samples. Surprisingly, the relative abundance (mean 38%) of α-HBCD in sediment from the upstream portion of the Hunhe River was significantly higher (p < 0.006, t test) than those in Dahuofang Reservoir (mean 24%). Moreover, the severe heavy metal contamination associated with the frequent mining activities in this region was tentatively suggested as being responsible for the increased levels of α-HBCD.

Concentrations, Distributions, and Risk Assessment of HBCD in Sediment in the Weihe River Basin in Northwest China

“…These HBCD concentrations were similar to the concentrations that have been found in sediment from Taihu Lake (0.046–2.56 ng/g dw), the Liaohe River (nd–4.02 ng/g dw), and the Shanghai (0.05–6.87 ng/g dw) in China [ 15 , 21 , 24 ], and from lakes in the UK (0.88–4.80 ng/g dw) [ 16 ], the Detroit River and Erie Lake (nd–1.60 ng/g dw) in North America [ 29 ], and the Sydney estuary (1.8–5.3 ng/g dw) in Australia [ 30 ]. Relatively high HBCD concentrations have been found in sediment from the Dongjiang River and Hunhe River [ 19 , 31 ] in China, Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy [ 32 ], and the major rivers in Korea [ 33 ] ( Table 2 ). However, the HBCD concentrations found in our samples were somewhat lower than concentrations found in sediment from other parts of China and other parts of the world, such as from the Yangtze River [ 26 ], Dagu Dainage Canal, Haihe River and Tianjin Harborat Bohai Bay [ 25 ], Japan [ 34 ], Norway [ 35 ], Spain [ 36 ], United Kingdom [ 37 ], and the Netherlands [ 38 ] ( Table 2 ).…”

A Review of Distribution and Profiles of HBCD in Different Environmental Media of China

“…Generally, γ-HBCD is the dominant isomer in sediment. This has been observed in sediment from the Hunhe River and coast of the northern Yellow Sea in China [ 56 , 59 ], lakes in England [ 60 ], the coast of Korea [ 55 ], and Tokyo Bay in Japan [ 61 ]. The contribution of γ-HBCD to the total HBCD concentration was consistent with the relative abundance (70–95%) of γ-HBCD in commercial technical products available in China, and with the concentrations measured in soils near manufacturing plants in North China [ 31 ].…”

“…The HBCD concentrations decreased from the lower reaches to the upper reaches of the rivers. For example, the HBCD concentration in sediments from the upper reaches of the Hunhe River in Northeast China (0.05–1.42 ng/g) is relatively low compared with that from the lower reaches (0.10–25.8 ng/g) [ 56 ]. Similar spatial distributions of HBCD have been observed in sediments from the Yangtze River and Pearl River [ 50 ].…”

“…For tributaries of these rivers, the total HBCD was at a low level. The highest HBCD concentrations were detected in the Dongjiang River (mean: 6.89 ng/g) [ 46 ], followed by the Hunhe River (3.74 ng/g) [ 56 ], Zhujiang River (2.85 ng/g) [ 46 ], Shunde tributaries (1.43 ng/g) [ 46 ], Beijiang River (0.69 ng/g), Xijiang River (0.44 ng/g), and Dayanhe River (0.21 ng/g). The concentration of HBCD in sediments from Taihu Lake was basically at the same level, ranging from 0.168 to 2.66 ng/g dw, in 2009, and 0.046 ng/g dw to 2.56 ng/g dw, in 2010 [ 38 , 57 ].…”

Fungi for the production of new types of biomaterials

“…Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) belonged to the most commonly flame retardant applied to EPS and XPS. Due to its environmentally harmful character (EPA, 2014;Su et al, 2015;Son et al, 2015), the application of HBCD was banned in 2017 for most products by the Stockholm Convention, respectively in 2018 finally also for polystyrene insulation material. As alternative, Polymer-FR (BASF, 2014) is used nowadays, which also produces a flame retardancy by bromination.…”