Novel brominated flame retardants: A review of their analysis, environmental fate and behaviour (original) (raw)
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Novel Brominated Flame Retardants in the Environment: a Review
Proceedings of the …, 2010
Introduction To date, at least 75 different brominated flame retardants (Leonards et al., 2008) have been produced. So far, studies have been primarily restricted to three groups: PBDEs, HBCDs, and TBBP-A. Recently some information has become available for other novel ...
Physiochemical Properties and Environmental Levels of Legacy and Novel Brominated Flame Retardants
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and 'novel' brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) are synthetic chemicals widely used in consumer products to enhance their ignition resistance. Since in most applications, these chemicals are used additively, they can transfer from such products into the environment. PBDEs have been classified as significant pollutants in the environment. Knowledge of PBDE and NBFR physicochemical properties provides information about their potential environmental fate and behaviour. This chapter highlights the most important physiochemical properties such as molecular weight, vapour pressure, octanol/air partitioning coefficient, octanol/water partition coefficient, water solubility and organic carbon/water partitioning coefficient that influence the distribution pattern of these contaminants in the environment. In addition, this chapter provides an evaluation of the concentrations of these chemicals in various environmental media such as indoor and outdoor air, indoor dust, soil and sediment, sewage sludge, biota and food, and human tissues.
Current Levels and Trends of Brominated Flame Retardants in the Environment
The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, 2010
Intensive study of the environmental occurrence and impacts of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) began during the 1990s, while the number of investigations reported has increased year-on-year. In this chapter, we review recent literature concerning levels and trends of BFRs in environmental samples, mainly published between 2008 and early 2010. In many areas of the world, controls have been put in place regarding the use of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and environmental concentrations are beginning to fall as a result. Investigations into the potential impacts of TBBP-A in Asia, around sites of manufacture and first use, are still required in order to assess the risks of continued production and use. The use of "novel" BFRs is being studied in order to assess their significance and potential impacts, as their environmental presence has been noted recently in a number of studies. New sources have emerged, such as e-waste recycling operations. In addition, secondary sources, such as glacier ice and permafrost soils, might become increasingly important in the future as a result of climate change. There is still concern that BDE209 (from the deca-mix PBDE technical product) may be debrominated in the environment to yield lower brominated BDE congeners, particularly as a large reservoir of BDE209 is accumulating in sediments. Even today, many ecosystems and regions are not studied well enough for us to be able to establish a global overview concerning BFR concentrations and their toxic effects.
Knowledge gaps in the analysis of novel Brominated Flame Retardants
Proceedings of the …, 2010
Introduction The implementation of strict bans on the use of some widely-used BFRs (penta, octa , and deca BDE formulations) and their voluntary withdrawal from the market has paved the way for the use of novel BFRs as replacement for the banned formulations. ...
Emerging "ne w" Brominated flame retardants: Sources and Trans port
Several types of halogenated organic flame retardants, mainly brominated flame retardants, are described in the literature. This includes compounds belonging to the families of polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA) and its derivatives, such as tetrabromobisphenol A bis(dibromopropyl ether) and tetrabromobisphenol A bis (allyl ether), tribromophenol (TBP) and brominated phthalic anhydride. Use of flame retardant additives depends mainly on the type of polymer to be flame retarded. Although the use of halogenated flame retardants is under increasing scrutiny due to their potentially harmful environmental and health characteristics they represent around 25% by volume of the total global production of flame retardants with a growth of around 5% per year (SRI consulting, 2008). Over the past 30 years PBDEs and TBBP A have been the focus of environmental research determining the characteristics and fate of these compounds. In response to recent regulations on the use of some BFRs, new brominated derivates are being introduced by industry and emitted into the environment. Little is known about the fate and long-range transport capabilities of non-PBDE BFRs. In a report for the Norwegian Climate and Pollution Agency, we assessed sources, transport and fate of emerging BFRs (Harju et al., 2009).
Environment International, 2003
Few would now deny that the use of organobromine compounds to achieve fire retardancy in a diverse array of products and materials has led to contamination of the ecosphere on a widespread scale. This environmental prevalence and persistence of the brominated flame retardants, coupled with growing evidence of their potential for harm, present all too familiar parallels with the previous generation of persistent organic pollutants. Indeed, given the intrinsic properties of these brominated chemicals, the nature and extent of the current problem could well have been predicted in advance. The question is then whether we are prepared to let history repeat itself once more or to take precautionary action now to switch to more sustainable alternatives. The choice facing society is not between brominated flame retardants and unsafe products, but between fire safety leading to global contamination or fire safety achieved in less polluting ways. If we look beyond options for simple chemical-for-chemical substitution to alternative materials and designs, many of the solutions are already available. The remainder could undoubtedly be developed given the incentives to do so. However, a strong and clear policy approach, backed by legislative phase-outs within specified (and challenging) timeframes, will be necessary to break our current dependency on organobromine chemistry. This paper presents the justification for such an approach, reviews those initiatives already underway to replace brominated flame retardants and identifies pathways to the use of more sustainable products in the service of society. D
Chemosphere, 2014
Polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) are major brominated flame retardants (BFRs) that are now banned or under restrictions in many countries because of their persistence, bioaccumulation potential and toxicity (PBT properties). However, there is a wide range of alternative BFRs, such as decabromodiphenyl ethane and tribromophenol, that are increasingly used as replacements, but which may possess similar hazardous properties. This necessitates hazard and risk assessments of these compounds. For a set of 36 alternative BFRs, we searched 25 databases for chemical property data that are needed as input for a PBT assessment. These properties are degradation half-life, bioconcentration factor (BCF), octanol-water partition coefficient (K ow ), and toxic effect concentrations in aquatic organisms. For 17 of the 36 substances, no data at all were found for these properties. Too few persistence data were available to even assess the quality of these data in a systematic way. The available data for K ow and toxicity show surprisingly high variability, which makes it difficult to identify the most reliable values. We propose methods for systematic evaluations of PBT-related chemical property data that should be performed before data are included in publicly available databases. Using these methods, we evaluated the data for K ow and toxicity in more detail and identified several inaccurate values. For most of the 36 alternative BFRs, the amount and the quality of the PBT-related property data need to be improved before reliable hazard and risk assessments of these substances can be performed.
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2006
Three training sets were selected, each consisting of 10 structurally diverse compounds representative of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) that are either in use or have been used. Just three compounds account for nearly all the total production volume of BFRs. In the present study, however, the physicochemical characteristics of a far more structurally diverse set of 65 BFRs was explored using 15 molecular descriptors (including log P, constitutional counts, and semiempirical quantum mechanical parameters) and principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA generated an overview of the structural variation among BFRs, and certain compounds with unique physicochemical properties and specific clusters of compounds with distinct properties were identified. The training-set compounds were selected by applying the condensed information obtained from the PCA and statistical experimental design. The three training sets, which were designated as optimal, practical, and alternative, were selected either to maximize the structural variation (optimal) or to combine structural variation with practical advantages, such as ease of experimental handling and commercial availability (practical and alternative). Inclusion of the suggested compounds in assessments of the persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity properties of BFRs and related programs should help to increase our understanding of the effects and environmental fate of these compounds.