title: Deriving freshwater safety thresholds for hexabromocyclododecane and comparison of toxicity of brominated flame retardants.
abstract: Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) is a brominated flame retardant used throughout the world. It has been detected in various environmental media and has been shown toxic to aquatic life. The toxic effects of HBCD to aquatic organisms in Chinese freshwater ecosystems are discussed here. Experiments were conducted with nine types of acute toxicity testing and three types of chronic toxicity testing. After comparing a range of species sensitivity distribution models, the optimal model of Bull III was used to derive the safety thresholds for HBCD. The acute safety threshold and the chronic safety threshold of HBCD for Chinese freshwater organisms were found to be 2.32mg/L and 0.128mg/L, respectively. Both values were verified by the methods of the Netherlands and the United States. HBCD was found to be less toxic compared to other widely used brominated flame retardants. The present results provide valuable information for revision of the water quality standard of HBCD in China.
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for Environmental Analysis and Measurement, Beijing100029, China. Electronic address: dongliang613@126.com.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Lake Research Center of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China; College of Water Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Lake Research Center of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
authors.forename: Suwen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Lake Research Center of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
authors.forename: Zhenguang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Lake Research Center of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
authors.forename: Weidong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Lake Research Center of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
authors.forename: Yuhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000187:drug effects*; D002417:Cattle; D002681:China; D017753:Ecosystem; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000633:toxicity*; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D006842:Hydrocarbons, Brominated / Q000633:toxicity*; D008297:Male; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute / Q000379:methods; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D005411:Flame Retardants; D006842:Hydrocarbons, Brominated; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C089796:hexabromocyclododecane
keywords: Acute safety threshold; Brominated flame retardants; Chronic safety threshold; Hexabromocyclododecane; Native species; Species sensitivity distribution models