Persistent Halogenated Compounds in Waterbirds from an e-Waste Recycling Region in South China

Abstract

Persistent halogenated compounds (PHCs), such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites (DDTs), hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (HCHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), decabromodiphenylethane (DBDPE), and polybrominated biphenyl 153 (PBB 153), were quantified in muscles of five waterbird species collected from an extensive e-waste recycling region in the Pearl River Delta, South China. PCBs, at concentrations up to 1,400,000 ng/g lipid, were the dominant contaminants contributing to 80%-90% of PHCs. PBDEs and organochlorine pesticides (sum of DDTs and HCHs) contributed approximately equally to total PHCs with median concentrations ranging from 37-2200 and 530-4300 ng/g lipid, respectively. This contaminant distribution pattern was different from those acquired by most studies conducted in other regions. The concentrations of PCBs and PBDEs in Chinese-pond heron from the present study were higher than those from most other previous studies with birds having similar trophic levels. The extensive e-waste recycling activities were probably the cause of the elevated PCB and PBDE levels in the bird samples. The median concentrations of PBB 153 and DBDPE ranged from 3-140 and 10-176 ng/g lipid, respectively. The frequent detection and high concentrations of DBDPE in piscivorous birds implicate a potential environmental concern for this "new" brominated flame retardant. Additionally, the interspecies differences in the levels of contaminants and species-specific PBDE congener patterns were also elucidated in the present study.

Species-Specific Bioaccumulation of Halogenated Organic Pollutants and Their Metabolites in Fish Serum from an E-Waste Site, South China

“…The total contribution of OCPs, DP, DDTs, PBBs, TBBPA, and HBCDs was \ 1 %. This distribution pattern was similar to those found in waterbirds from the same e-waste recycling region (Luo et al 2008), but it differs from biota in the Pearl River Estuary in South China (Zhang et al 2007) and the Yellow River Delta in North China (Gao et al 2009), in which OCPs dominated by DDTs were the most abundant HOPs. The contaminantdistribution patterns from this study indicated that pollutants derived from industrial sources dominated over agricultural sources in the e-waste site.…”

Persistent halogenated compounds in fish from rivers in the Pearl River Delta, South China: Geographical pattern and implications for anthropogenic effects on the environment

“…Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envres have been frequently found in both biotic and abiotic matrices in the PRD (Mai et al, 2005a(Mai et al, , 2005bLuo et al, 2009). Meanwhile, DBDPE and DP have also been widely detected in local sediments .…”

Dechlorane Plus flame retardant in kingfishers (Alcedo atthis) from an electronic waste recycling site and a reference site, South China: Influence of residue levels on the isomeric composition

“…A more complex diet composition of the previous investigated waterbirds (aquatic invertebrates, small fish, seeds and berries, etc.) compared to the present common kingfishers (w99% are small fish) (Kasahara and Katoh, 2008;Luo et al, 2009a), and the isomer-and species-specific biomagnification potentials of the two DP isomers (Tomy et al, 2007Wu et al, 2010) (t-test, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the estimated f anti values in the kingfishers were significantly correlated to logarithm of P DP concentrations in their bodies (r 2 ¼ 0.41, p < 0.0001; Fig.…”