title: Levels, compositions, and inventory of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in sewage sludge of Guangdong Province, South China.
abstract: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were measured in sewage sludge samples collected from major wastewater treatment plants in Guangdong Province, South China. Concentrations of ∑39PBDE (all 39 compounds including tri- to hepta- PBDE congeners except for BDE-209) ranged from 3.6 to 428 ng/g dw with a mean value of 67.4 ng/g dw and a median value of 25.9 ng/g dw, and those of BDE-209 ranged from 9.9 to 5,010 ng/g dw (mean 1,024 ng/g dw and median 824 ng/g dw). The PBDE mixtures detected were mainly comprised of penta-, octa-, and deca-BDEs, with deca-BDE as the dominant constituent. The most abundant congeners, excluding BDE-209, were BDE-47, BDE-99, and BDE-183. Good correlations were found among the concentrations of BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-100, BDE-138, and BDE-154 (r>0.8). However, poor correlations were found between the concentrations of BDE-209 and all other congeners (r<0.3). This fact suggests that most tri- to hepta-BDEs detected did not originate from decomposition of deca-BDE. The estimated annual emission of ∑allPBDEs, ∑39PBDEs, penta-BDE, octa-BDE, and deca-BDE to the Pearl River Delta environment (PRD), based on the sludge samples analyzed, amounts to 232, 20.2, 5.5, 1.7, and 212 kg per year, implicating sewage sludge as a significant source of PBDEs to the PRD environment.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China, yran@gig.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ran
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yejun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xianying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gui
authors.forename: Eddy Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Zeng
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis*; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical