Influence of Hydrological Parameters on Organohalogenated Micropollutant (Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers and Polychlorinated Biphenyls) Behaviour in the Seine (France)

Abstract

The temporal dynamics of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were investigated in a heavily urbanized river (Seine River, Paris, France) from November 2009 to May 2010. Pollutant concentrations were in the range of 0.2 to 3.8 ng l(-1) (median 1.1) and 0.4 to 3.6 ng l(-1) (median 1.1) for ∑ tri-deca BDEs and ∑ 7PCBs, respectively. In addition, for both PBDEs and PCBs, the partitioning between the particulate and dissolved phases was investigated. Due to their low water solubility, PBDEs were mainly (>70%) bound to particles. In contrast, only 54% of ∑ 7PCBs occurred in the particulate phase, and their partitioning was influenced by the degree of chlorination. During the sampling period, PBDE/PCB fluxes were quite similar and ranged from 3 to 128 and from 6 to 125 g day(-1), respectively. The annual mass flow of PBDEs and PCBs was estimated to 10 kg for both. Contrary to PCBs and BDE-209, the temporal evolution of ∑ tri-hepta BDEs was related to particulate organic matter content, which is controlled by river flow variations. This suggests that they exhibit different sources or behavior in the Seine River.

The presence of EU priority substances mercury, hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorobutadiene and PBDEs in wild fish from four English rivers

“…Law et al (2008) reviewed PBDE concentrations in a variety of matrices including fish: Typical concentrations for European freshwater fish are from the hundreds of ng/kg to the low tens of µg/kg for the sum of 6 BDEs. Roosens et al (2008) reported similar values when reviewing BDE 47 (which is typically about 3/4 of the sum of 6 BDEs) in eels, though samples taken from an industrialized region of Belgium were higher with an average of 77 µg/kg ww and from the data given in further Belgian study (Roosens et al, 2010) (Hanke et al, 2012) and 0.02-0.27 ng/L for the sum of 11 tri-hepta BDEs (including the 6 in the EQS) in the Seine (France) (Tlili et al, 2012). In an inter-laboratory comparison exercise only 20% of participating laboratories were able to detect all 6 EQS PBDEs at the requisite limit of quantification (LOQ) of 30% of the current EQS (for the sum of 6 BDEs, therefore for each individual one the LOQ should be 5% of EQS) (Hanke et al, 2012).…”

“…Law et al (2008) reviewed PBDE concentrations in a variety of matrices including fish: Typical concentrations for European freshwater fish are from the hundreds of ng/kg to the low tens of µg/kg for the sum of 6 BDEs. Roosens et al the EQS) in the Seine (France) (Tlili et al, 2012). In an inter-laboratory comparison exercise only 20% of participating laboratories were able to detect all 6 EQS PBDEs at the requisite limit of quantification (LOQ) of 30% of the current EQS (for the sum of 6 BDEs, therefore for each individual one the LOQ should be 5% of EQS) (Hanke et al, 2012).…”

“…The so-called penta-mixes consisting mainly of congeners 99 (2,2',4,4',5-penta-BDE) and 47 (2,2',4,4'-Tetra-BDE) with smaller amounts of penta-BDE 100, hexaBDEs 153 and 154 and Penta-BDE 85 were the most commonly used until they were banned in the EU under the recast Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS, 2002/95/EC). Due to their high Log K ow s (6.57 for penta-BDE, 8.35-8.9 for octa, and 9.97 for deca), very little is found dissolved in water with the majority being bound to the organic fraction of suspended and bed-sediments, or the lipid in aquatic organisms (Tlili et al, 2012;Wenning et al, 2011). Airborne particle transport is believed to be responsible for PBDEs being found in ice cores as far away as the arctic circle from the 1970's onward (Hermanson et al, 2010), but compared to HCB there is a much greater geographical variation of atmospheric concentrations with the UK being a European hotspot in samples from 2002, which was believed to be related to their high production and use there (Jaward et al, 2004) and in a survey of eels across Europe the UK sample also had the highest PBDE concentrations (Santillo et al, 2005).…”

Concentrations and loads of PCBs, dioxins, PAHs, PBDEs, OC pesticides and pyrethroids during storm and low flow conditions in a small urban semi-arid watershed

“…PBDEs have rarely been measured in urban stormwater runoff (Oram et al, 2008;Tlili et al, 2012;Gasperi et al, 2014). Stormwater runoff measurements from this study, which were collected approximately concurrently with the regulatory bans of this substance in California, will provide an ideal baseline against which to measure trends resulting from the bans.…”

“…PCBs have been relatively well studied in urban runoff in other areas of the world (Foster et al, 2000a(Foster et al, , 2000bHwang and Foster, 2008;Rossi et al, 2004;Howell et al, 2011;Zgheib et al, 2011Zgheib et al, , 2012 and concentrations appear to be the greatest in watersheds with older (pre-1980) industrial areas (McKee et al, 2012). PCBs have been found to occur dominantly in particulate phase (Hwang and Foster, 2008;Zgheib et al, 2011) and the degree of partitioning appears to relate to the degree of chlorination (Tlili et al, 2012). Studies on loads and yields are fewer in number and there is less information on seasonal distributions of loads for analyzing the management potential for selectively treating runoff; information which is especially valuable in watersheds with extremely variable flow such as semi-arid systems.…”