Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polybrominated biphenyls in Australian sewage sludge

Abstract

This paper presents a brief review of the international scientific literature of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) in sewage sludge and a survey of these compounds in sewage sludge from 16 Australian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The SigmaPBDE mean concentration in the Australian study was 1137microgkg(-1) dry weight (d.w.) (s.d. 1116) and ranged between 5 and 4 230microgkg(-1)d.w. The urban mean of 1308microgkg(-1) (s.d. 1320) and the rural mean of 911microgkg(-1) (s.d. 831) are not statistically different and are similar to levels in European sludges. Principal components analysis was performed on the data set and revealed that 76% of the data variation could be explained by two components that corresponded to overall concentration of the pentaBDE and the decaBDE commercial formulations. An analysis of variance was performed comparing PBDEs levels at three WWTPs over the years 2005 and 2006, finding differences between treatment plants (BDE-47) but no significant difference in PBDE levels in the years 2005 and 2006. Low levels of BB-153 were detected in all samples of this survey (n=16); mean 0.6microgkg(-1)d.w. (s.d. 0.5). This compound has rarely been reported in any other study of sewage sludges undertaken outside Australia. This work highlights the need for a risk assessment of PBDEs in sewage sludge when used for land application, taking into account typical levels found in Australian sludges and soils.

Occurrence of Selected Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers and 2,2′,4,4′,5,5′-Hexabromobiphenyl (BB-153) in Sewage Sludge and Effluent Samples of a Wastewater-Treatment Plant in Cape Town, South Africa

“…The presence of this contaminant in the samples investigated in this study suggests that the PBB congener could be leaching from certain consumer products earlier treated with its technical formulation. Compared with similar studies by Clarke et al (2008Clarke et al ( , 2010 conducted over a relatively shorter period, the levels obtained in this study were slightly greater than those reported for effluent and sludge samples in a typical Australian WWTP.…”

Levels and distribution patterns of short chain chlorinated paraffins in sewage sludge of wastewater treatment plants in China

“…Compared to other POPs, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and PCBs (Clarke et al, 2008;Kupper et al, 2008;Diaz-Cruz et al, 2009;Guo et al, 2009), information on SCCP concentrations in sewage sludge are very scarce. In U.K., a survey of the digested sludge from 14 WWTPs revealed that SCCP concentrations ranged from 7 to 200 mg/g dw (Stevens et al, 2003), and the range of concentrations is consistent with those previous measured in sewage sludge (1.8e93 mg/g dw) from…”

BDE-209 in the Australian Environment: Desktop review

“…As with other persistent chemicals capable of long-range transport that have been produced in large volumes, BDE-209 has been detected in environmental samples of soil, sediment, leachate, sewage, dust, mammals, birds and fish (13,20,(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34). Biomonitoring studies have found BDE-209 in human blood serum (35,36), breast milk (37)(38)(39)(40), cord blood (41), placenta (42,43) and infant faeces (44).…”