Evidence for photochemical and microbial debromination of polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants in San Francisco Bay sediment.
Brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs) are flame retardant compounds that have been classified as persistent organic pollutants under the Stockholm Convention and targeted for phase-out. Despite their classification as persistent, PBDEs undergo debromination in the environment, via both microbial and photochemical pathways. We examined concentrations of 24 PBDE congeners in 233 sediment samples from San Francisco Bay using Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF). PMF analysis revealed five factors, two of which contained high proportions of congeners with two or three bromines, indicating that they are related to debromination processes. One of the factors included PBDE 15 (4,4'-dibromo diphenyl ether, comprising 20% of the factor); the other included PBDE 7 (2,4-dibromo diphenyl ether; 12%) and PBDE 17 (2,2',4-tribromo diphenyl ether; 16%). The debromination processes that produce these congeners are probably photochemical debromination and anaerobic microbial debromination, although other processes could also be responsible. Together, these two debromination factors represent about 8% of the mass and 13% of the moles of PBDEs in the data matrix, suggesting that PBDEs undergo measurable degradation in the environment.
Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States. Electronic address: rodenburg@envsci.rutgers.edu.
Lisa A
LA
Rodenburg
School of Public Health, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States.
Qingyu
Q
Meng
San Francisco Estuary Institute, 4911 Central Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804, United States.
Don
D
Yee
San Francisco Estuary Institute, 4911 Central Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804, United States.
Ben K
BK
Greenfield
D061006:Bays / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D012495:San Francisco; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
D005411:Flame Retardants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
California; Debromination; Factor analysis; Flame retardant; Monitoring; Photolysis