title: Contemporary 14C radiocarbon levels of oxygenated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (O-PBDEs) isolated in sponge-cyanobacteria associations.
abstract: Considerable debate surrounds the sources of oxygenated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (O-PBDEs) in wildlife as to whether they are naturally produced or result from anthropogenic industrial activities. Natural radiocarbon ((14)C) abundance has proven to be a powerful tool to address this problem as recently biosynthesized compounds contain contemporary (i.e. modern) amounts of atmospheric radiocarbon; whereas industrial chemicals, mostly produced from fossil fuels, contain no detectable (14)C. However, few compounds isolated from organisms have been analyzed for their radiocarbon content. To provide a baseline, we analyzed the (14)C content of four O-PBDEs. These compounds, 6-OH-BDE47, 2'-OH-BDE68, 2',6-diOH-BDE159, and a recently identified compound, 2'-MeO-6-OH-BDE120, were isolated from the tropical marine sponges Dysidea granulosa and Lendenfeldia dendyi. The modern radiocarbon content of their chemical structures (i.e. diphenyl ethers, C(12)H(22)O) indicates that they are naturally produced. This adds to a growing baseline on, at least, the sources of these unusual compounds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA. carlos.guitart@mu.ieo.es
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guitart
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Slattery
authors.forename: Sridevi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ankisetty
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Radwan
authors.forename: Samir J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Letcher
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Reddy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D011161:Porifera / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical