Polybrominated diphenyl ethers listed as Stockholm Convention POPs, other brominated flame retardants and heavy metals in e-waste polymers in Nigeria

Abstract

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were the first brominated persistent organic pollutants (POPs) listed in the Stockholm Convention. Parties to the convention are currently establishing inventories for developing action plans for the environmentally sound management of PBDE-containing materials. The major use of commercial octabromodiphenyl ether (c-OctaBDE) has been in casings from cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs and computer monitors. Large quantities of used e-waste and electronic equipment have been exported to developing countries with Nigeria being a major importer in Africa. The casings from 382 TVs and computers imported from major world regions to Nigeria were sampled in backyards and waste dumps. The samples were screened with X-ray flourescence (XRF) for bromine and analysed by gas chromatography/ electron capture detection (GC/ECD) for brominated flame retardants (BFRs). A high proportion of the CRT casings (61 %) contained more than 10,000 ppm bromine from BFRs. Decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE) was the major flame retardant used in TV sets and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) for computer CRTs.The screening suggests that average PBDE levels (of c-OctaBDE + DecaBDE) in Nigerian-stockpiled CRT casings were 1.1 % for TV and 0.13 % for PC CRTs. These are above the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) limit and should be separated for RoHS compliant recycling. The Nigerian e-waste inventory of 237,000 t of CRT plastic would therefore contain approx. 594 t c-OctaBDE and 1,880 t of DecaBDE. In Nigeria, as for most developing countries, there is currently no adequate e-waste management, plastic separation or destruction capacity. The data highlight the urgent need to develop environmentally sound management for this large material flow.

The need for better management and control of POPs stockpiles

“…2 (Sindiku et al 2015). Current waste management practices including open burning, dumping and uncontrolled recycling inevitably result in environmental and human contamination (Babayemi et al 2014). The challenges that have been highlighted with the management of these POPs stockpiles reaffirm the recommendation made by the Stockholm Convention's POP Review Committee for the (then) new listed POP-PBDEs (UNEP 2010).…”

“…& The three examples all relate to the EU, and it is clear that inadequate resources and attention are currently being allocated to the implementation of the Stockholm Convention. Also e-waste including brominated POPs end up in developing countries (Sindiku et al 2014;Sindiku et al 2015;Babayemi et al 2014). & Ultimately, the only long-term solution to the hazards of POPs is to ensure that the obligations of the Stockholm Convention to destroy or irreversibly transform the POPs are strictly applied-including the use of precautionary concentration thresholds for the lower bounds of destruction (the Blow POPs^levels).…”

“…This issue of ESPR contains the first review of the monitoring, inventory and related material/substance flows for PBDE in a developing country (Nigeria) (Babayemi et al 2014;Sindiku et al 2014). This study shows that c. 2300 t of c-OctaBDE is contained in the approximately 2.4 million tonnes of plastics imported with electronics and e-waste to N i g e r i a s i n c e 2 0 0 0 ( B a b a y e m i e t a l .…”

Towards a generic procedure for the detection of relevant contaminants from waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) in plastic food-contact materials: a review and selection of key parameters

“…We describe as well the measurement of REEs where combinations of cerium (Ce), dysprosium (Dy), lanthanum (La), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr) and yttrium (Y) were detected in four of the seven BFR-positive samples. Additionally, the polymer purity was investigated where in all cases foreign polymer fractions were BTBPE, decaBDE, DBDPE, TBBPA, HBCD, 2,4,6-tribromophenol Bromine screening by high-definition (HD) X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) or liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) Miller et al (2016) DecaBDE XRF spectroscopy followed by direct insertion probe magnetic sector high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) Guzzonato et al (2016a) PBDEs, PBBs, HBCD, TBBPA, BTBPE, 2,4,6-tribromophenol, TBBPA derivates Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma spectrometry-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), hand-held XRF spectroscopy followed by thermal desorption GC-MS Guzzonato et al (2016b) PBDEs, TBBPA and TBPE with additional information on Br, P, Cl, Pb, Hg, Cd and Sb XRF spectroscopic screening followed by gas chromatography electron capture detection (GC-ECD) or HRMS in extracts Sindiku et al (2015) PBB, PBDEs, TBP, TBBPA, TBPE Ultrasonic extraction reverse phase-high-performance liquid chromatography/UV detection (RP-HPLC/UV) Pöhlein et al (2005) DecaBDE, ethylene(bis-tetrabromophthal)imide (EBTBPI), DBDPE and TBBPA XRF screening followed by ion attachment mass spectrometry (IAMS) Sato et al (2010) TBBPA, PBDEs and HBCD XRF spectroscopic analysis at first followed by a surface wipe test or destructive chemical analysis gas detected. Despite the fact that this study was carried out only on a very small number of samples, there is a significant likelihood that WEEE has been used for the production of plastic FCMs.…”

Analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ether and tetrabromobisphenol A in plastic samples in Mongolia

“…Only limited and rather uncertain data are available regarding the occurrence of BFRs in consumer goods and waste fractions as well as regarding emissions during use and disposal [5,6]. In recent years some screening on PBDE and other flame retardants have been performed in different regions in the world (A, B [7][8][9][10], C) Up to now no monitoring of BFRs have been performed in Mongolia. Therefore in this study a preliminary screening have been done on BFRs in polymers in electronics (TV and computers) in Mongolia.…”