Emission inventory of deca-brominated diphenyl ether (DBDE) in Japan

Abstract

Atmospheric emissions of deca-brominated diphenyl ether (DBDE) in Japan were estimated based on the material flow of DBDE products and their emission factors. In 2002, the demand for DBDE in Japan was 2200 ton/year and the stock level was about 60 000 ton. The DBDE flow into the waste stream was estimated to be about 6000 ton/year and the flow out through second-hand product exports was more than 700 ton/year. Home appliance recycling facilities dismantle and crush domestic wastes containing about 600 ton of DBDE annually. Material recycling of crushed plastics is not commonly practiced as yet. Emission factors from plastics processing (2 × 10 −9 -1 × 10 −7 ), textile processing (9 × 10 −7 ), home appliance recycling (8 × 10 −9 -5 × 10 −6 ), and waste incineration (1 × 10 −7 -2 × 10 −6 ) were estimated using field measurement data. The DBDE emission rate through house dust during the service life of final products (2 × 10 −7 -9 × 10 −7 per year) was estimated using the DBDE concentration in dust and the amount of dust in used televisions. Emission factors from previous studies were also used. The estimated total DBDE emission was 170-1800 kg/year. These results suggest the necessity of characterizing emissions during the service life of products, which is essential information for formulating an appropriate e-waste recycling strategy.Key words Polybrominated diphenyl ethers · E-waste · Emission factor · Brominated flame retardant · Material recycling J Mater Cycles Waste Manag (2006) 8:56-62

Characterization of Persistent Organic Pollutants in Ash Collected from Different Facilities of a Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator

“…Lai et al (2007) found that ~83% of the total PBDD/Fs adsorbed on the surface of bottom ash and the left 17% PBDD/Fs was present in flue gas; additionally, this phenomenon is associated with the fact that PBDD/Fs have higher molecular weights and lower vapor pressures than PCDD/Fs. The EF of PBDEs in flue gas (84.5 µg/ton-waste) estimated in this study were 2 to 21 times lower than that determined from e-waste (e.g., waste TV housing) incineration processes in Japan (1200 to 1800 µg/ton) and were rather small when compared to those from other processes (including manufacturing of PBDEs, dismantling and crushing, textile processing, and plastics processing) (Sakai et al, 2006). Furthermore, PBDEs were identified in the stack flue gases of sinter plants revealed that PBDEs can form during the combustion processes through the similar formation conditions of PCDD/Fs (Wang et al, 2010b).…”

Overview and Perspectives on Emissions of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers on a Global Basis: Evaporative and Fugitive Releases from Commercial PBDE Mixtures and Emissions from Combustion Sources

“…For dismantling and crushing during recycling, Sakai et al (2006) reported the deca-BDE emission factors per unit weight of PBDE entering the recycling process ranged from 8 × 10 -9 to 5 × 10 -6 (median: 3 × 10 -8 ) by conducting flue gas samplings of seven home appliance recycling facilities. However, the emission factors of other PBDE congeners were not measured in their study.…”

“…PBDEs are ubiquitous in the environment and their occurrence in polar regions highlights the importance of atmospheric transport Chao et al, 2014;Kuo et al, 2015;Mwangi et al, 2016). Emissions related to the commercial PBDE mixtures can occur during production, processing, use of products containing PBDEs, and waste management (e.g., from landfills, incineration, and open burning) (Prevedouros et al, 2004;Sakai et al, 2006;Schenker et al, 2008;Earnshaw et al, 2013). So far, researches related to PBDE emission inventory and estimation mostly emphasized their evaporative and fugitive releases during production, use, and waste management phases.…”

“…Some studies even indicated that PBDEs can be formed during combustion (Sakai et al, 2001;Wang et al, 2010b;Artha et al, 2011;Ni et al, 2016) and measured in the flue gas of combustion sources that their fuels contained no commercial PBDE mixtures (Wang et al, 2010b;Chang et al, 2014b, c;Chen et al, 2017). PBDE emissions from combustion sources were not included in the mentioned PBDE inventory and estimation, maybe because these emissions used to be believed to be much smaller than the evaporative releases from PBDE-containing products (Prevedouros et al, 2004;Sakai et al, 2006). Therefore, this study estimated the global PBDE emissions from combustion sources and illegal open burning of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and e-waste, as well as evaporative and fugitive releases from commercial PBDE mixtures.…”

“…A peak BDE-47 atmospheric emission of 22-31 tonnes occurred around 1997 was estimated, with a decline of ~20% in 2000. The total of both indoor and outdoor BDE-209 atmospheric emissions for Japan were estimated by Sakai et al (2006) . The dominant BDE-209 contributions to the atmosphere during its life cycle are volatilization and particle bound emissions from landfills during waste management phase.…”