Occurrence of halogenated and organophosphate flame retardants in sediment and fish samples from three European river basins

Abstract

Classic (polybromodiphenyl ethers, PBDEs) and emerging halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) such as decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) and halogenated norbornenes, as well as organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) were analysed in 52 sediments and 27 fish samples from three European river basins, namely the Evrotas (Greece), the Adige (Italy) and the Sava (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia). This is the first time that FR levels have been reported in these three European river basins. The highest contamination was found in the Adige and Sava rivers, whereas lower values were obtained for the Evrotas. The levels in sediment samples ranged between 0.25 and 34.0ng/g dw, and between 0.31 and 549ng/g dw, for HFRs and OPFRs respectively. As regards levels in fish, concentrations ranged between 9.32 and 461ng/g lw and between 14.4 and 650ng/g lw, for HFRs and OPFRs, respectively. Thus, whereas OPFR values were higher in sediments, similar concentrations (in the Evrotas) and even lower concentrations than HFRs (Sava) were found for OPFRs in the fish samples, indicating the lower bioaccumulation potential of OPFRs. Biota to sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) were calculated and higher values were obtained for HFRs compared to those assessed for OPFRs.

First determination of high levels of organophosphorus flame retardants and plasticizers in dolphins from Southern European waters

“…If we take into account that OPFRs represent around 15% by volume of the FR total global production, whereas HFRs represent around 30% by volume, the environmental occurrence of HFRs should be something higher. Moreover, higher bioaccumulation potential of HFRs versus OPFRs has been previously described (Giulivo et al, 2017), as well as limited OPFR biomagnification through food web (Hallanger et al, 2015) probably due to biotransformation processes (Strobel et al, 2018). All these data suggested that HFR levels in dolphins, with a high trophic level, should be higher than those of OPFRs.…”

“…The occurrence of OPFRs in natural environments was first reported in the late 1970s (Saeger et al, 1979;Sheldon and Hites, 1978). Since then OPFRs have been detected in numerous environmental samples such as in air, wastewater effluent, household dust, sediment, and biota (Brandsma et al, 2015;Giulivo et al, 2017;Kademoglou et al, 2017;Kim et al, 2017;Aznar-Alemany et al, 2018;Herrero et al, 2018). However, their occurrence in the marine environment is not widely reported.…”

Tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate treatment induces DNA damage, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in murine RAW264.7 macrophages

“…TDCPP is an additive FR and thus is not bound to the matrix and can leach from the products to the environment. TDCPP has been detected in a wide range of environmental media, such as surface water, drinking water, sediment, air, dust, and tissues of wildlife and humans (Brandsma et al, 2013;Cao et al, 2012;Giulivo et al, 2017;Li et al, 2015;Reemtsma et al, 2008). In Sweden, TDCPP was detected in an indoor environment (hospital ward) at a concentration of 150 ng/m 3 (Marklund et al, 2005).…”

Determination of organophosphate flame retardants in soil and fish using ultrasound‐assisted extraction, solid‐phase clean‐up, and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

“…Wang et al [24] developed an early LC-MS/MS method to determine PFRs in water samples with high performance and quick determination. In recent years, the use of LC-MS/MS has been generalized for screening PFRs in environmental samples as sediment [25][26][27], soil [26], biota [25,[27][28][29], water [16,24], and wastewater [16,30]. The main issues in the analysis of PFRs by LC-MS/MS are interferences and background contamination.…”