title: Brominated flame retardants in the atmosphere of the East-Central United States.
abstract: Air samples were collected at five sites (urban, semiurban, agricultural, and remote) from Lake Michigan through the U. S. Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico every 12 days during 2002-2003 using high-volume samplers so that we could study the spatial trends of brominated flame retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), and 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)-ethane (TBE)). The mean sigmaPBDE atmospheric concentration was 100 +/- 35 pg/m3 at the Chicago site, which was 3-6 times higher than that at the other sites. The sigmaPBDE atmospheric concentrations at the Chicago site were significantly higher than previous measurements made in 1997-1999. Unlike these former measurements, BDE-209 is now relatively abundant. Lower BDEs (tri- through hex-BDEs) were detected in both the particle and the gas phases, and the partitioning of these compounds between phases was highly dependent on atmospheric temperature. Higher BDEs (hepta- through deca-BDEs) were mostly detected in the particle phase. On the basis of the congener distributions in the samples, the concentrations were divided into three groups: penta-BDEs, octa-BDEs, and deca-BDEs. Penta-BDEs were the most concentrated at the Chicago site and the least concentrated at the Louisiana site; octa-BDE concentrations were low at all of the sites; deca-BDEs were the most concentrated at the Chicago site and notably high atthe Arkansas site. High concentrations of deca-BDEs, HBCDs, and TBE at the Arkansas site suggest that manufacturing areas in southern Arkansas could be the source regions. Backward trajectories for air masses with high concentrations of deca-BDEs coming to the Arkansas site suggestthat deca-BDEs bound to particles can move long distances from source regions to nonsource regions.
authors.affiliation: School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Eunha
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoh
authors.forename: Ronald A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hites
mesh_terms: D000392:Air Movements; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000032:analysis*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis*; D006842:Hydrocarbons, Brominated / Q000032:analysis*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D005411:Flame Retardants; D006842:Hydrocarbons, Brominated