Brominated flame retardants in stream sediment of Ulsan coast

Abstract

Flame retardant chemicals are added to many consumer products in order to prevent fire. They are used worldwide in plastics, textiles, electronic circuitry and other common materials. Tetrabromobisphenol A(TBBPA), polybrominated diphenyl ethers(PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecanes(HBCDs), and 1,2-bis(2,4,6 tribromophenoxy) ethane(BTBPE) are the most widely used brominated flame retardants(BFRs). With the ban on PBDE commercial mixtures in the developed countries, the demand for alternative non-PBDE BFRs has been increased. A big city and numerous industrial facilities including petrochemical, automotive, shipbuilding industries are distributed along the coastline of Ulsan. Therefore, the Ulsan coast have been designated as ‘special management coastal areas’ by the Korean government since 1983. In this study, the contamination status of BFRs were examined in the stream sediments from Ulsan. The concentrations of PBDEs, HBCDs, TBBPA, and BTBPE were in the range of 0.01-226 ng/g(mean value: 59.3 ng/g), 0.06-585(134) ng/g, 0.15-44.7(4.32) ng/g and 0.16-291(43.8) ng/g, respectively. Among the target compounds, HBCDs showed the highest concentration, followed by PBDEs, BTBPE and TBBPA. These levels were relatively higher in the locations near petrochemical industries compared to those from densely populated areas. Mean concentrations of BFRs found in stream sediments were 7-21 times higher than those of coastal sediments o ethers(PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecanes(HBCDs), and 1,2-bis(2,4,6 tribromophenoxy) ethane(BTBPE) are the most widely used brominated flame retardants(BFRs). With the ban on PBDE commercial mixtures in the developed countries, the demand for alternative non-PBDE BFRs has been increased. A big city and numerous industrial facilities including petrochemical, automotive, shipbuilding industries are distributed along the coastline of Ulsan. Therefore, the Ulsan coast have been designated as ‘special management coastal areas’ by the Korean government since 1983. In this study, the contamination status of BFRs were examined in the stream sediments from Ulsan. The concentrations of PBDEs, HBCDs, TBBPA, and BTBPE were in the range of 0.01-226 ng/g(mean value: 59.3 ng/g), 0.06-585(134) ng/g, 0.15-44.7(4.32) ng/g and 0.16-291(43.8) ng/g, respectively. Among the target compounds, HBCDs showed the highest concentration, followed by PBDEs, BTBPE and TBBPA. These levels were relatively higher in the locations near petrochemical industries compared to those from densely populated areas. Mean concentrations of BFRs found in stream sediments were 7-21 times higher than those of coastal sediments o