title: Behavior of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) in the soil-plant system: uptake, translocation, and metabolism in plants and dissipation in soil.
abstract: Deca-bromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) is the major component of the commercial deca-BDE flame retardant. There is increasing concern over BDE-209 due to its increasing occurrence in the environment and in humans. In this study the behavior of BDE-209 in the soil-plant system was investigated. Accumulation of BDE-209 was observed in the roots and shoots of all the six plant species examined, namely ryegrass, alfalfa, pumpkin, summer squash, maize, and radish. Root uptake of BDE-209 was positively correlated with root lipid content (P < 0.001, R(2) = 0.81). The translocation factor (TF, C(shoot)/C(root)) of BDE-209 was inversely related to its concentration in roots. Nineteen lower brominated (di- to nona-) PBDEs were detected in the soil and plant samples and five hydroxylated congeners were detected in the plant samples, indicating debromination and hydroxylation of BDE-209 in the soil-plant system. Evidence of a relatively higher proportion of penta- through di-BDE congeners in plant tissues than in the soil indicates that there is further debromination of PBDEs within plants or low brominated PBDEs are more readily taken up by plants. A significant negative correlation between the residual BDE-209 concentration in soil and the soil microbial biomass measured as the total phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) (P < 0.05, R(2) = 0.74) suggests that microbial metabolism and degradation contribute to BDE-209 dissipation in soil. These results provide important information about the behavior of BDE-209 in the soil-plant system.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Honglin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Shuzhen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Christie
authors.forename: Sen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D001969:Bromobenzenes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001969:Bromobenzenes; D005411:Flame Retardants; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; C491509:decabromodiphenyl ethane