Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Soils, Sediments, and Human Hair in a Plastic Waste Recycling Area: A Neglected Heavily Polluted Area

Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2014 papers

Abstract

The release of pollutants during the recycling of contaminated plastics is a problem which has drawn worldwide attention; however, little information on the transfer of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in these processes is available. We conducted a survey of PBDEs in soils, sediments, and human hair in a typical plastic waste recycling area in northern China. The total concentrations (ng/g) of 21 PBDEs were 1.25-5504 (average 600), 18.2-9889 (average 1619), and 1.50-861 (average 112) in soils, sediments, and hair, respectively. The PBDE concentrations were comparable to concentrations observed in e-waste recycling areas; however, the concentrations in soils and sediments were 1-3 orders of magnitude higher than in other areas, and the concentrations in hair were much higher than in other areas. This indicates that this area is highly polluted with PBDEs. BDE-209 was the dominant congener (representing 91.23%, 92.3%, and 91.5% of the total PBDEs observed in soils, sediments, and hair, respectively), indicating that the commercial deca-BDE product was dominant. The commercial penta- and octa-BDE products made small contributions to the total PBDE concentrations, unlike what has been found in some e-waste recycling areas. Our results show that crude plastic waste processing is a major contributor of PBDEs to the environment and humans, which should be of great concern.

Related Papers

• → Flame retardant exposure: polybrominated diphenyl ethers in blood from Swedish workers.(1999)348 cited
• → Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Soils, Sediments, and Human Hair in a Plastic Waste Recycling Area: A Neglected Heavily Polluted Area(2014)112 cited
• → Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) In U.S. Computers and Domestic Carpet Vacuuming: Possible Sources of Human Exposure(2005)122 cited
• → Natural and man-made organobromine compounds in marine biota from Central Norway(2006)41 cited
• → A Comparison of Concentrations and Congener Patterns of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Seasonally Sampled Outdoor Air from a Farmland Area in Guangzhou, South China(2018)7 cited