title: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in soils, sediments, and human hair in a plastic waste recycling area: a neglected heavily polluted area.
abstract: The release of pollutants during the recycling of contaminated plastics is a problem which has drawn worldwide attention; however, little information on the transfer of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in these processes is available. We conducted a survey of PBDEs in soils, sediments, and human hair in a typical plastic waste recycling area in northern China. The total concentrations (ng/g) of 21 PBDEs were 1.25-5504 (average 600), 18.2-9889 (average 1619), and 1.50-861 (average 112) in soils, sediments, and hair, respectively. The PBDE concentrations were comparable to concentrations observed in e-waste recycling areas; however, the concentrations in soils and sediments were 1-3 orders of magnitude higher than in other areas, and the concentrations in hair were much higher than in other areas. This indicates that this area is highly polluted with PBDEs. BDE-209 was the dominant congener (representing 91.23%, 92.3%, and 91.5% of the total PBDEs observed in soils, sediments, and hair, respectively), indicating that the commercial deca-BDE product was dominant. The commercial penta- and octa-BDE products made small contributions to the total PBDE concentrations, unlike what has been found in some e-waste recycling areas. Our results show that crude plastic waste processing is a major contributor of PBDEs to the environment and humans, which should be of great concern.
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Regional Energy and Environmental Systems Optimization, Resources and Environmental Research Academy, North China Electric Power University , Beijing 102206, China.
authors.forename: Zhenwu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Qifei
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jiali
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Yufei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis*; D064371:Hazardous Waste Sites; D006801:Humans; D010969:Plastics / Q000737:chemistry*; D059027:Recycling; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D010969:Plastics; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014866:Waste Products; C010902:decabromobiphenyl ether