title: Occurrence and fate of PBDEs and novel brominated flame retardants in a wastewater treatment plant in Harbin, China.
abstract: Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is considered to be an important medium for the transport and transformation of organic pollutants. This study attempted to comprehensively investigate polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) in a WWTP in Harbin, one of the main "Old Industrial Base" in China. The mean concentrations of the total PBDEs in the influent, effluent, and sludge were 152 ng/L, 16.2 ng/L, and 503 g/g dw, respectively, which were at the low end of the global range. BDE-209 was the most abundant congener, with contributions to the total PBDE ranging from 90.5 to 98.5 %. The level of the total NBFRs ranged from 24.5 to 107 ng/L, 0.95 to 20.3 ng/L, and 305 to 1202 ng/g dw in the influent, effluent, and sludge, respectively. For NBFRs, DBDPE was the most abundant congener (38.8-50.5 %), followed by BEHTBP (11.0-35.0 %). The ratio for DBDPE/BDE-209 (0.62 ± 0.42) was found less than 1 in sludge, which indicated that Deca-BDE is still the major BFR product in this city. Source identification suggested that indoor dust should be an important source of BFRs in the WWTP. Approximately 20.8 and 7.79 kg of PBDEs and NBFRs on annual basis were removed with the sludge. Biodegradation could play an important role on the fate of BFRs in the WWTP, which is required for future research.
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150090, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150090, China.
authors.forename: Shao-Jing
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150090, China.|School of Environmental Science, Liaoning University, Shenyang, 110036, China.
authors.forename: Chun-Yan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Huo
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150090, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Long
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150090, China.
authors.forename: Ning-Zheng
authors.initials: NZ
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150090, China. hongqi@hit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Wudalianchi Environmental Monitoring Station, Heilongjiang, 164155, China.
authors.forename: Ling-Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150090, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Fan
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150090, China. mawanli002@163.com.
authors.forename: Wan-Li
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis*; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D005411:Flame Retardants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Fate; Novel brominated flame retardants; Occurrence; Polybrominated diphenyl ethers; Wastewater treatment plant